The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Few in GOP rush to defend Gaetz amid sex allegations
The political peril for conservative Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz deepened Friday as the 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. Several GOP lawmakers and top aides who requested anonymity said Gaetz’s prospects for remaining in Congress were bleak and were complicated in particular by his unpop- ularity among colleagues in his own party.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and a political ally who is facing sex-trafficking allega- tions may have paid under- age girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.
Gaetz said in a statement earlier this week that “No part of the allegations against me are true.”
Republican congressional leaders have largely been silent about the investigation, which continues.
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.
Greenberg was the elected tax collector in Seminole County near Orlando when he resigned last June after his arrest on federal charges. Initially, those included stalking a political opponent, traf- ficking a minor for sex and illegally using a state data- base to create fake drivers licenses and other ID cards.
Since then, the case against Greenberg has ballooned to more than 30 charges, including wire fraud and other charges involving efforts to divert at least $400,000 from the tax collector’s office into cryptocur- rency he controlled and for his own personal use, such as the purchase of memorabilia autographed by NBA greats Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, federal prosecutors say. Other charges accuse him of using two companies he controlled to attempt to fraudulently obtain coronavirus relief funds.
Gaetz has said the allega - tions against him are part of an extortion plot by an attorney in Florida, who worked decades ago as a federal pros- ecutor 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 firm said Mcgee had served in top positions at the U.S. attorney’s office in Florida about 25 years ago and that his “reputation for integrity and ethical conduct was impeccable.”
The Justice Department has a separate investigation into the extortion allegations, according to a person familiar with the investigation who also spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Gaetz has said that his family has been cooperating with the FBI and that his father was wearing a recording device, at the FBI’S direction, “to catch these criminals.” He also demanded the Justice Department release the recordings.