Florida Trump ally linked to sex trafficking investigation
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, is being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17year-old and paid for her to travel with him, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Investigators are examining whether Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people said. A variety of federal statutes make it illegal to induce someone under 18 to travel over state lines to engage in sex in exchange for money or something of value. The Justice Department regularly prosecutes such cases, and offenders often receive severe sentences.
It was not clear how Gaetz met the girl, believed to be 17 at the time of encounters about two years ago that investigators are scrutinizing, according to two of the people.
The investigation was opened in the final months of the Trump administration under Attorney General William Barr, the two people said. Given Gaetz’s national profile, senior Justice Department officials in Washington — including some appointed by Trump — were notified of the investigation, the people said.
The three people said that the examination of Gaetz, 38, is part of a broader investigation into a political ally of his, a local official in Florida named Joel Greenberg, who was indicted last summer on an array of charges, including sex trafficking of a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex, at least one of whom was an underage girl.
Greenberg, who has since resigned his post as tax collector in Seminole County, north of Orlando, visited the White House with Gaetz in 2019, according to a photograph that Greenberg posted on Twitter.
No charges have been brought against Gaetz, and the extent of his criminal exposure is unclear.
Gaetz said in an interview that his lawyers had been in touch with the Justice Department and that they were told he was the subject, not the target, of an investigation.
“I only know that it has to do with women,” Gaetz said. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to exgirlfriends as something more untoward.”
Gaetz called the investigation part of an elaborate scheme involving “false sex allegations” to extort him and his family for $25 million.
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, as did the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Central Florida.
Greenberg pleaded not guilty last year and was sent to jail this month for violating the terms of his bail. He is scheduled to go on trial in
June in Orlando.
A frequent presence on Fox News and other conservative media, Gaetz has recently mused with confidants about quitting elected politics and taking a fulltime job with the conservative television channel Newsmax or another network, according to a person familiar with the conversations. Axios first reported on Tuesday that Gaetz was considering leaving Congress.
It was unclear how investigators in the Greenberg case began examining Gaetz’s conduct. Last June, federal prosecutors secured an indictment against Greenberg, accusing him of stalking a political rival.
Around that time, federal authorities seized Greenberg’s phone and laptop, according to court records. They discovered evidence that Greenberg, whose job responsibilities included issuing licenses, was creating fake identification cards for himself and a teenage girl.
Two months later, he was indicted on the sex trafficking charge. From May to November 2017, prosecutors said, Greenberg targeted the girl, who was between 14 and 17, saying he “recruited” and “solicited” her for sex acts in exchange for unspecified perks or favors.