Congressman under investigation for trafficking
ORLANDO, Fla. — Federal authorities are investigating potential sex trafficking violations by U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a probe that emerged from the prosecution of former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, according to a report by The New York Times.
Citing three people briefed on the matter, the Times reported Tuesday that Justice Department investigators are looking into whether Gaetz, R-Fla., a close ally of former President Donald Trump, had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him.
The probe of Gaetz reportedly stemmed from the investigation of Greenberg, who faces a slew of charges including sex trafficking of a child. He is currently slated to stand trial in June.
The Times report noted that many details of the Gaetz probe remain unclear, including how the congressman allegedly met the girl. The encounters allegedly occurred about two years ago and the investigation began in the final months of the Trump administration under then-Attorney General William P. Barr, the report said.
No charges have yet been brought against Gaetz. Neither the congressman nor his office could be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
But in an interview with the news website Axios, Gaetz said he had “absolutely” not dated underage girls.
“I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I’ve dated,” he said. “You know, I’ve paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I’ve been, you know, generous as a partner. I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.”
But Gaetz also claimed, in comments to the Times and Axios as well as in a thread of posts on Twitter, that he was the victim of a convoluted extortion plot by unnamed former Department of Justice officials, who he said had used threats to smear him in an attempt to extort millions of dollars.
“No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation,” he said.
Greenberg resigned as tax collector in June, after he was arrested at his home by federal agents. He faces 14 charges, including allegations that he stalked a political opponent, illegally used a state database to create fake IDs and sex trafficked a minor.
Federal prosecutors charge that Greenberg used his access as an elected official to a confidential state database to look up information about a girl between the ages of 14 and 17 with whom he was engaged in a “sugar daddy” relationship.
Greenberg also is charged with producing “a false identification document and to facilitate his efforts to engage in commercial sex acts,” according to federal indictments filed with the U.S. attorney’s office in August.
Several former employees told the Orlando Sentinel that Greenberg often mentioned how he and Gaetz were close friends, and that the congressman would often visit him at his Lake Mary home.
Prosecutors said in a grand jury indictment that Greenberg, as tax collector, took surrendered driver’s licenses before they were shredded by office staff and created new IDs with his photograph but with the personal information of residents.