Few in GOP rush to defend Gaetz amid feds’ probe
WASHINGTON — The political peril for conservative Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz deepened Friday as the often outlandish, Trumpstyled provocateur appeared politically isolated amid a federal sex-trafficking investigation.
Few Republicans rushed to offer any kind of support to the three-term Florida congressman known for espousing high-volume attacks — sometimes against those in his own party — during his frequent media appearances. Several GOP lawmakers and top aides who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation said Gaetz’s prospects for remaining in Congress were bleak and were complicated in particular by his unpopularity among colleagues in his own party.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and a political ally who is facing sex trafficking allegations may have paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Friday.
The scrutiny of Gaetz stemmed from the Justice Department’s probe into the political ally, Joel Greenberg, the people said. Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, was indicted last year and is accused of a number of federal crimes. He has pleaded not guilty.
Republican congressional leaders have largely been silent about the investigation, which is ongoing.
Part of the investigation is examining whether Gaetz, 38, had sex with a 17-year-old and other underage girls and violated federal sex trafficking laws, the people familiar with the probe said. Federal agents suspect Greenberg may have enticed the girls and then introduced some of them to Gaetz, and they are examining whether both men may have had sex with the same girls, the people said.
The people with knowledge of the investigation could not discuss details publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Details of the investigation were first reported by the New York Times.
Gaetz has vehemently denied the allegations and said in a statement earlier this week that “no part of the allegations against me are true.”
Among the rare lawmakers to express support for Gaetz is freshman GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, another rising figure in the GOP propelled by her media appearances and use of social media to spread baseless conspiracy theories.
House Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy, R-calif., told reporters this week that accusations against Gaetz were “serious.”
The Gaetz investigation, which has been going on since at least the summer of 2020, reached the highest levels of the Justice Department, and former Attorney General William Barr was briefed on the matter several times, the people said.
In the last few months, investigators have also interviewed several witnesses in the case and have been scrutinizing documents, including travel and financial records, the people said.
Gaetz has said the allegations against him are part of an extortion plot by an attorney in Florida, who worked decades ago as a federal prosecutor and whom Gaetz identified as David Mcgee.
In response, Mcgee’s law firm said the allegation that Gaetz made about the supposed extortion attempt was “both false and defamatory.”
The Justice Department has a separate investigation into the extortion allegations.
The Justice Department has not commented.