A woman told the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Donald Trump’s AG nominee, having sex with a minor, according to her lawyer.
Joel Leppard, the woman’s attorney, released a statement to ABC News on Friday demanding the committee release their investigation report into allegations Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and violated sex trafficking laws by traveling with her across state lines.
Leppard represents two women who sat with the committee for closed-door testimony. “My client testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor,” Leppard told ABC News. “As the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, several questions demand answers,” Leppard continued. “What if multiple credible witnesses provided evidence of behavior that would constitute serious criminal violations?”
The woman’s attorney pressed: “Democracy demands transparency. Release the Gaetz Ethics report.”
Gaetz announced he was resigning from his congressional seat on Wednesday evening, immediately after President-elect Trump tapped the Florida congressman to serve as his attorney general. The ethics committee was scheduled to vote on the release of the investigative report into allegations that he had engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and public corruption.
Although Gaetz’s exit from the house takes away the committee’s jurisdiction to investigate the former representative, lawmakers can still release the report via majority vote, or pass along their findings to federal prosecutors.
The records include witness statements about a 2017 party that featured drugs, a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim, and, allegedly, Gaetz himself. The investigation stemmed from a separate probe into Joel Greenberg, a long-time friend of Gaetz’s. Greenberg pleaded guilty to charges of underage sex trafficking, falsification of documents, stalking, and wire fraud in 2021, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. As part of his plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation into Gaetz.
John Clune, an attorney representing Gaetz’s alleged victim, wrote on X Thursday that “Mr. Gaetz’s likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events. We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student and there were witnesses.”
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