Matt Gaetz was born into politics, but his wild career has been over-the-top, even for Florida.
Prosecution of former Seminole tax collector linked to federal investigation
Editor’s Note: Because of a production error, only part of this article appeared in Wednesday’s Orlando Sentinel. We are publishing the full version below.
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, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, had a sexual relationship with a 17-yearold 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.
But in an interview with the news website Axios, Gaetz described himself as a generous romantic partner who 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 a former Department of Justice official, who he said had used threats to smear him in an attempt to extract 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 drivers licenses before they were shredded by office staff and created new IDs with his photograph but with the personal information of residents.
When federal agents first arrested Greenberg in the early morning of June 23 at his home in the gated Heathrow community, they said they found on the front seat of Greenberg’s SUV, which belonged to the Tax Collector’s Office, a backpack holding several fake IDs, according to court records. Agents also found materials used to create fake IDs at Greenberg’s office at the Tax Collector’s administrative office in Lake Mary.
Greenberg was released on bond after his arrest but was returned to custody March 3, when a federal magistrate ordered him back to jail for violating his 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and for leaving the Central Florida area. According to court records, Greenberg had left his Lake Mary home on Feb. 28 and drove to his mother-in-law’s condominium in Jupiter to look for his wife, Abby Greenberg.
Greenberg is now in the Orange County Jail awaiting his trial scheduled for mid-June.
Gaetz, 38, of Fort Walton Beach, is serving his third term representing the western Panhandle area in Congress. A former state House member, Gaetz has been one of former President Trump’s closest allies in Florida and was a regular on Air Force One during Trump’s term.
Gaetz gained notoriety for over-the-top stunts including storming a classified impeachment hearing in 2019 and wearing a full gas mask on the floor of the House in the early days of the coronavirus epidemic in 2020. He also invited Charles Johnson, a white nationalist website operator and Holocaust denier, to Trump’s State of the Union address, later claiming that he barely knew Johnson.
He also has been an active Twitter user and a hardcore Trump MAGA supporter. His bio on the site reads, “Florida man. Fiancé. Firebrand. America First.”
Gaetz has often been a critic of members of his own party, including backing challenger Scott Franklin over incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Ross Spano in last year’s primary in District 15 in Lake, Polk and Hillsborough counties and traveling to Wyoming to attack U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney after her vote to impeach Trump.
In January 2020, state Rep. Chris Latvala accused Gaetz of having created a “game” during his time in Tallahassee that gave out points for “sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators.” The allegation echoed a Miami Herald story in 2015 that reported that such a game was played by younger state representatives. Gaetz denied involvement in any such game.