Gaetz faces probe by House ethics over potential misconduct
WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz, citing reports of sexual and other misconduct by the Florida Republican, the panel’s leaders said Friday.
The deepening of the scrutiny of the congressman comes as Gaetz has retained two prominent New York attorneys while facing a Justice Depar tment investigation into sex traf ficking allegations involving underage girls.
The House panel’s bipar tisan probe is one of the first of ficial indications Gaetz’s party leaders are willing to scrutinize his actions. It also appears sweeping in scope, reaching beyond the reports of sexual misconduct into broader allegations of public corruption, according to the committee chairman, Rep. Ted Deutsch, D-fla., and ranking Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana. Unfolding alongside a federal criminal investigation, the ethics probe ensures Gaetz will have to confront simultaneous inquiries even as he maintains his innocence and plans to remain in Congress.
The Ethics Committee conducts its work in secret and usually issues a final report on what it finds, often many months later. Punishment for ethics violations is up to the House and can include censure, fines and even expulsion from Congress.
Gaetz has not been charged with a crime, has denied any wrongdoing and has sent fundraising appeals that por tray him as a victim of a “smear campaign.” He was expected to make a high-profile appearance Friday at former President Donald Trump’s Doral golf club in Miami.
But a potentially ominous sign occurred in a Florida cour t Thursday when it was revealed that a Gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg, a former county tax collector, is working toward a plea deal. Such a move could potentially open the door for Greenberg’s cooperation against Gaetz.
Prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they could not discuss details publicly. Greenberg entered a not guilty plea Friday through his attorney to a variety of charges ranging from child sex trafficking to fraud. A judge has set a May 15 deadline for Greenberg to reach a plea deal.