Donald Trump's early administration picks have been characteristically controversial, but none has inspired as much shock, consternation, and flat-out outrage as his nomination of Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general.
Gaetz has been the subject of sexual misconduct allegation for years, and amid growing public pressure the House Ethics Committee is considering whether to release a report detailing the findings of its investigation into these allegations, along with allegation of illicit drug use and other improprieties.
Gaetz resigned from Congress days before the committee was originally scheduled to vote on releasing its report on claims that Gaetz attended “sex parties” where, in at least once instance, he had sex with a minor. The now-former Florida representative's exit from the House stripped the committee of the power to discipline him, and Republican leadership has argued the report should no longer be made public. Trump, meanwhile, has reportedly been directly lobbying Republican senators to confirm his problematic pick to lead the Justice Department. Those efforts have reportedly not gone well, but when the president-elect was asked whether he was reconsidering his pick, he simply replied, “No.”
Gaetz — who was also the subject of a federal investigation that ultimately did not lead to an indictment — has vehemently denied all of the claims against him. This doesn't mean there aren't reports, court filings, and testimony suggesting there's something to the claims, which are concerning regardless of whether the Ethics Committee's report sees the light of day.
Gaetz's old buddy said in a letter to Roger Stone that Gaetz had sex with a minor
The allegations against Gaetz first emerged as part of a separate criminal investigation into his longtime confidant Joel Greenberg, who in 2021 pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor and is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.
In April 2021, The Daily Beast obtained a letter Greenberg sent to Roger Stone begging the notorious Republican operative to help him get a pardon from then-President Trump — and acknowledging that he and Gaetz had had sex with a 17-year-old.
“My lawyers that I fired, know the whole story about MG's involvement,” Greenberg wrote, referring to the former congressman by his initials. “They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage.”
Greenberg claimed that the underage girl, then 17, had lied about her age. “All of the girls were in college or post college and it was not uncommon for either myself or the Congressman to help anyone [sic] of these girls financially, whether it was a car payment, a flight home to see their family or something as simple as helping pay a speeding ticket,” Greenberg added.
A federal investigation, an ex-girlfriend's testimony, and a trip to the Bahamas
The investigation into Greenberg spurred a separate Justice Department investigation into Gaetz, launched by Trump Attorney General Bill Bar. The DOJ probed whether Gaetz had sex with an underage girl, and whether he violated anti-trafficking laws by paying for her to travel with him.
As part of the investigation, authorities seized Gaetz's phone, as well as a cell phone belonging to his ex-girlfriend. As part of his plea agreement, Greenberg agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department in their investigation into Gaetz, as did the ex-girlfriend. Gaetz reportedly met the ex-girlfriend while she was a college student, and she later accompanied Gaetz on a September 2018 group trip to the Bahamas. The younger Gaetz allegedly slept with was also on the trip — although she was 18 at the time of the trip.
The ex-girlfriend reportedly reached a deal to testify before a grand jury after a conversation with Gaetz's alleged underage victim led her to fear she could also be indicted.
The DOJ ultimately declined to charge Gaetz in the probe, reportedly because of credibility issues with the case's witnesses. The House Ethics Committee had its investigation into Gaetz to clear the way for the DOJ to finish its own investigation. The House resumed its probe in February 2023.
The minor Gaetz allegedly had sex with testified to the Ethics Committee that Gaetz did indeed have sex with her when she was 17
ABC News reported that the Ethics Committee alleged the woman — now in her 20s — that Gaetz allegedly had sex with her when she was 17. She sat for multiple days of testimony, and told the committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor , and in high school.
“These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress,” Gaetz said in response. “This false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism.”
Multiple women testified to the Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex, with one saying she saw him have sex with the minor in question
The House Ethics Committee also sought testimony from women who allegedly attended “sex parties” where they were paid to have sex with men like Greenberg and Gaetz.
Joel Leppard, a lawyer representing two women who say they had sex with Gaetz, told ABC News that one of his clients “testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor.”
“She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” he said.
“As the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz's nomination for attorney general, several questions demand answers,” Leppard added. “What if multiple credible witnesses provided evidence of behavior that would constitute serious criminal violations?”
Leppard added days later that his two clients told the committee that they had both been paid for sex with Gaetz.
“Just to be clear, both of your clients testified that they were paid by Rep. Gaetz to have sex?” ABC News' Juju Chang asked Leppard in a Monday interview.
“That's correct,” Leppard replied. “The House was very clear about that and went through each. They essentially put the Venmo payments on the screen and asked about them. And my clients repeatedly testified, 'What was this payment for?' 'That was for sex.'”
The electronic paper trail
In April 2021, The Daily Beast obtained records of Venmo transactions between Greenberg, Gaetz, other men involved in the scheme, and the women being paid for sexual services.
According to the transaction history, in May 2018 Gaetz sent Greenberg a late-night payment of $900. The next morning, Greenberg sent payments totaling $900 to three young women with notes like “tuition” and “school” in the subject line.
In another transaction, Gaetz included the nickname of a woman who had turned 18 just months before in the memo line.
A 2021 investigation by The New York Times found that the cash-for-sex ring was also managed through Cash App and Apple Pay transactions. According to sources who spoke to the TimesGaetz asked several women he met if they had friends who would be interested in similar arrangements.
Leppard, the lawyer representing the women who demonstrated before the Ethics Committee, said that one of the women interviewed by the Ethics Committee testified that Gaetz had used the PayPal account of Nestor Galban, a younger man who Gaetz has referred to as an adopted “son” to mask payments related to their hookups. The two men have no biological or legal relationship.
ABC News later reported that Venmo records obtained by the Ethics Committee show Gaetz paying over $10,000 to two women who were later witnesses in both the investigations by the Justice Department and Ethics Committee.
A lawsuit uncovering testimony about Gaetz having sex on an air hockey table
In 2023, Christopher Dorworth — a former member of the Florida state House of Representatives and friend of Gaetz's — filed (and later dropped) a civil defamation lawsuit against Greenberg, who had told investigators that the alleged encounter in 2017 between Gaetz and an underaged girl occurred at Dorworth's home.
The alleged victim and another woman allegedly present at the party were deposed as part of Dorworth's lawsuit. While those depositions remain unavailable to the public, portions of them were read to Dorworth during unsealed questioning by the defense.
According to a CNN review of Dorworth's testimony, attorneys describe testimony given by a woman referred to as “AB” or “Ms. B” to protect her anonymity. The interviewers indicate that, in her own testimony, AB described Dorworth observing her “dancing naked” at his house.
“You heard her testimony that she said that you observed her and Matt Gaetz having sex on the air hockey table?” they asked Dorwroth at one point, who throughout the interview vehemently denied the events described, accused the women of lying, and claimed he was not even at his house at the time.
The friend of AB (referred to as KM) who was allegedly at the same party, is quoted as having told attorneys that party attendees had “access to the bedrooms in the Dorworth Residence to engage in sexual activities” and “alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy also known as molly, and marijuana.”
In separate court documents related to Dorworth's lawsuit, a woman referred to as “LP” stated in a heavily redacted affidavit that she attended a party at Dorworth's home in the summer of 2017.
“Upon arriving at the Dorworth Residence, I was asked to put my cell phone in a bowl on a counter. It was my understanding that this was done because the partygoers did not want any photographs or videos taken of the event,” she wrote. “Mr. Dorworth welcomed many people to the Dorworth Residence on July 22, 2017 including, without limitation, Matt Gaetz, [and] Joel Greenberg.”
“The party included alcohol, drugs, middle-aged men and young and attractive women,” LP testified, adding that between the summer and fall of 2017 Greenberg paid for her attendance at several parties at the Dorworth residence. LP described watching Dorworth engage in sexual activity with one woman at the party — referred to as “Ms. Z” — during one such event.
According to a review of records related to the case by NOTUS, a woman identified as “BG” — whom the outlet confirmed was previously involved in a romantic relationship with Gaetz — provided testimony rebutting Dorworth's assertions that he was not present at the party where the alleged underage assault took place. Her testimony was given two days before Dorworth abandoned his lawsuit. “BG, another attendee at that party, confirmed AB's testimony under penalty of perjury,” wrote attorneys representing Greenberg and the other defendants.
Following Gaetz's nomination for attorney general, Dorworth filed two motions requesting records related to his lawsuit against Greenberg be withheld from release and “stricken from the judicial record.”
The Ethics Committee's report (TBD)
The Ethics Committee has yet to release its report on Gaetz's alleged sexual misconduct, but all signs point to it being plenty damaging. Senators from both parties have said they would like to see it before making a decision about confirming Gaetz, and Joel Leppard, the lawyer representing two of the women who testified before the committee, has been insisting it be released publicly.
The report's release could spell the end of Gaetz's bid to become attorney general, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising if Senate Republicans brushed it all off as a smear job and installed him at the top of the Justice Department. If Gaetz's nomination winds up getting struck down, he will be eligible to return to Congress.
