Report: Woman Testified About Underage Sex With Gaetz

'She was a high school student and there were witnesses,' her lawyer says
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2024 7:13 AM CST
Report: Woman Testified About Underage Sex With Gaetz
Matt Gaetz talks before President-elect Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

A woman subpoenaed by the House Ethics Committee over the summer testified that Matt Gaetz had sex with her when she was underage, ABC News reports, citing "sources familiar with the investigation." The sources say the woman, who is now in her 20s, testified that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a 17-year-old high school student in Florida and he was around 35 years old. The age of consent in Florida is 18. Gaetz resigned from Congress after President-elect Trump announced that he would be his nominee for attorney general, but the Ethics Committee is under pressure to release its report on the investigation despite the fact that it no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz.

Gaetz's "likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events," the woman's lawyer said in a post on X. "We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student and there were witnesses." According to ABC News' sources, at least half a dozen other women who were allegedly paid by Gaetz's former friend Joel Greenberg and were allegedly at parties where Gaetz was present were interviewed by the Ethics Committee.

  • The first investigation. The Justice Department—which Trump has tapped Gaetz to lead—opened an investigation of Gaetz toward the end of Trump's first term as president. Sources tell the Miami Herald that it was closed due to "lack of credibility of two key witnesses: Greenberg and the victim, who later became a porn star on social media," but investigators had other witnesses to back up allegations including sex trafficking. Gaetz reportedly asked Trump for a pre-emptive pardon.

  • More on Greenberg. Greenberg is serving an 11-year-sentence after pleading guilty to charges including sex trafficking of a minor. According to ABC News' sources, he cooperated with the House investigation and provided written testimony to the committee.
  • Denial. In response to the ABC News reports, Gaetz said: "These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress. This false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism." In a September statement, he described Greenberg as a "felonious liar."
  • "I want to see everything." Sources tell Politico that the Gaetz case will be discussed in an Ethics Committee meeting Friday that was scheduled before Gaetz resigned. Panel members declined to comment to Politico on the investigation's report, though other lawmakers said they want to see it. "I want to see everything," said Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
(More Matt Gaetz stories.)

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