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Women describe drug use, sex and payments in Matt Gaetz case

2021-04-15T03:05:11.236Z


Two women spoke to CNN about their experiences at Matt Gaetz's parties that they attended on various occasions.


Two women reveal that Matt Gaetz would have participated in parties with drugs 2:12

Orlando, Florida (CNN) -

According to the testimony of two women who spoke to CNN in recent days, the first thing some of them were asked when arriving at parties in the gated community of suburban Orlando was that they will keep their cell phones.

The men inside, a list of local Republican officials that often included Rep. Matt Gaetz, did not want the evening's activities documented. Party-goers, sometimes dressed in the formal attire of a political event of which they had just dated, met and shared drugs like cocaine and ecstasy.

Some had sex.

Controversial Republican Matt Gaetz liked to talk politics, one of the women said.

He acted like a "frat party boy," she said, and sometimes took pills that she thought were recreational drugs.

Details of the parties, which have not been previously reported, were described to CNN by two women who attended several of them in recent years.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity.

  • Embarrassed Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz denied meeting with Trump

The behavior of Gaetz and the other high-powered men at those events, and a pattern of subsequent digital payments, will likely be of interest to the Justice Department as part of its investigation into Gaetz, which includes allegations of sex trafficking and prostitution. .

Federal investigators are examining whether Gaetz had a relationship with a woman that began when she was 17, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators have also investigated witness statements and other indications that Gaetz may have used cash and drugs in his dealings with the young women.

After a few parties, money changed hands.

According to receipts reviewed by CNN, Gaetz and his partner Joel Greenberg, a former county prosecutor charged last year with multiple federal charges, used digital payment apps to send hundreds of dollars to at least one woman who attended the parties.

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The receipts seen by CNN record payments that occurred between 2018 and 2019 and include at least one that indicated on a label that it was to offset travel.

One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after some of the parties.

He claimed that some of the payments were for providing sex, but would not say who he slept with.

However, he said he never received money directly from Matt Gaetz.

Some of the parties were more low-key, the other woman said.

Some took place in hotel suites at the end of alcohol-filled political functions.

"Nobody wants to stop partying, stop drinking, once you've had a few glasses of champagne," he said.

A Gaetz spokesperson did not respond directly to CNN's request for comment, but questioned the use of anonymous sources.

According to people familiar with the investigation, authorities have spoken with some of the women involved with the congressman and his close friend, Greenberg, the former Seminole County (Florida) tax commissioner, who is currently facing 33 federal charges, including trafficking. sexual behavior of a minor.

One of the women who spoke to CNN said she did so in part because the image of Matt Gaetz as potentially linked to sex trafficking that has emerged in recent days does not match what she saw.

Both women said they never saw anyone at the parties who appeared to be underage.

None of them have spoken to federal investigators, they said.

Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz speaks at a "Women for American First" event on Friday, April 9, 2021, in Doral, Florida.

Gaetz has denied paying for sex and in the past two weeks has tried to frame the allegations against him as the result of political bias in the justice system and the media.

He has also accused investigators of misrepresenting his generosity to women to make it criminal.

"Providing flights and hotel rooms to people you date who are of legal age is not a crime," Matt Gaetz said in an interview with Fox News late last month.

The

New York Times

first reported on Gaetz's digital payments to women, and last Thursday, The Daily Beast also reported on Venmo transactions between Gaetz and Greenberg, and Greenberg and young women.

Greenberg has been providing information to investigators since last year, including about encounters he and Gaetz had with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex, a source familiar with the case confirms to CNN.

Greenberg has met several times with investigators, and their cooperation, first reported by

The New York Times

, could put additional legal pressure on Gaetz as investigators work to determine whether he, too, has infringed. laws on sex trafficking or prostitution.

Last week, Greenberg's attorney and a federal prosecutor told a judge that Greenberg would likely reach a plea deal in the coming weeks, possibly giving the Justice Department even more access to a witness with intimate knowledge of any possible crime committed by Matt Gaetz.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing on Thursday last week, Fritz Scheller, Greenberg's attorney, declined to specify whether his client would be willing to cooperate as part of the possible plea deal and declined to disclose whether Greenberg has already agreed. he had met with prosecutors to describe what he knows about Gaetz.

He added, however, that his client is "in a unique situation."

"I'm sure Matt Gaetz isn't feeling very comfortable today," Scheller said.

Scheller declined to comment to CNN for this story.

The Gaetz investigation began in the final months of the Trump administration's Justice Department, under then-Attorney General William Barr, and was initially part of a larger investigation into the trafficking allegations against Greenberg.

As part of the ongoing investigation, investigators are inspecting Gaetz's connections to various associates in Florida who could have benefited politically in exchange for providing favors to the congressman, including escorts, travel and campaign donations, according to sources familiar with the investigation. .

One of the events in question is a trip Matt Gaetz took to the Bahamas with friends and young women, according to CNN.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Gaetz received travel and women in exchange for political favors as part of his broader investigation, the sources said.

Gaetz, a former member of the Florida House of Representatives and the son of a powerful figure in Republican state politics, cultivated a close circle of friends with political connections who remained in his orbit after he left for Washington in 2017.

In recent days, several of those allies have been embroiled in the scandal.

Chris Dorworth, a former state legislator whom Gaetz has described as a friend and "legislative mentor," resigned from a powerful lobbying firm on Friday, a day after

The New York Times

reported that he had spoken to Gaetz about the Presenting a third party candidate in a local election, which could be considered a violation of campaign finance laws if the third party candidate received a secret pay for running.

"The current political environment is unpleasant, and I told Brian that I don't think it's fair that the recent media storm downplay his missions," Dorworth wrote on Twitter, referring to Brian Ballard, the founder of the lobbying group based in Florida and with close ties to the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Dorworth told CNN on Wednesday that he did not recall speaking with Gaetz about the presentation of a third candidate and noted that he did not believe it would have been illegal if it happened.

He did not respond to CNN's request for comment on his resignation.

So far, Greenberg appears to be the only person in Matt Gaetz's orbit currently facing charges related to the scandal.

First indicted in 2020 for the alleged harassment of a political rival, Greenberg has since been charged by federal prosecutors with illegally accessing a vehicle database to obtain and use the personal information of individuals, including some with whom "I had 'sugar daddy' relationships".

Then-Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg leaves federal court in Orlando following his indictment on a federal stalking charge on June 23, 2020.

According to a person close to Greenberg, the former tax commissioner frequently sent messages of identical wording to multiple women inviting them to parties via so-called 'sugar daddy' dating websites, where men get in touch with women they often compensate with money or gifts.

Not many details about the child sex trafficking charge brought against Greenberg last year have been released to the public, but in an August indictment, prosecutors said the child was between 14 and 17 years old and charged Greenberg. of illegally obtaining a photograph and driver identification number for the person.

People close to Greenberg and Gaetz have described them as good friends whose connection had to do with both GOP politics in Florida and after-hours socializing.

Greenberg, a rookie to elected office when he won the county seat in 2016, enjoyed the political status he gained from friendship with Gaetz and other lawmakers, people close to the men said.

Out of the public eye, Greenberg bragged to friends that he was partying with Matt Gaetz and women, according to a person close to Greenberg.

For his part, Gaetz appeared to have found an ally in Greenberg, donating $ 1,000 to one of his campaigns, and promoting him to higher office in an interview.

"If Joel ran from the Seminole Co, I think he would become the next congressman from the 7th district," Gaetz told a Florida radio station in 2017.

That relationship is now on trial.

Matt Gaetz, in turn, has beefed up his defense team, hiring two New York attorneys late last week, including Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor who has also represented the Trump Organization.

Sex crime accusations Congressman

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-04-15

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