Matt Gaetz: Trump’s attorney general pick hampered by accusations

A woman who attended a 2017 party with Matt Gaetz – Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next US Attorney General – has testified that she saw the then-congressman having sex with a minor.

The Friday revelation by her attorney comes amid newfound interest in the findings of a congressional ethics panel’s long-running probe of the Florida lawmaker.

Gaetz’s selection as America’s next top law enforcement officer and his sudden resignation from Congress – putting him out of reach of the probe – have rocked Washington with bipartisan concern that risks derailing his nomination.

He has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation into him a “smear campaign”. The Justice Department – which Gaetz would lead in the post – investigated the claim but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.

Gaetz, 42, represented Florida’s first congressional district in the US House of Representatives from 2017 until his resignation on Thursday.

A fierce Trump defender, he has long upset Democrats but also many Republicans with his bombastic public conduct and alleged hard-partying lifestyle.

On and off since 2021, the secretive House Ethics Committee has investigated Gaetz over various allegations, including a claim that he had sex with an underage girl, used illicit drugs, accepted bribes, misused campaign funds and shared inappropriate images on the House floor.

The Floridian has repeatedly and vehemently denied wrongdoing, casting the probe as an attempt to smear his name by powerful enemies he has made in politics.

He has also raised in his defence the fact that the Justice Department ended a separate three-year federal sex-trafficking investigation last year by deciding not to bring charges against him.

“Lies were Weaponized to try to destroy me,” Gaetz posted on X on Friday.

“These lies resulted in prosecution, conviction, and prison. For the liars, not me.”

Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time friend, was the lone person charged in the Justice Department sex trafficking’s investigation. He cooperated with investigators and reportedly told prosecutors information about multiple others, including Gaetz.

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after agreeing to plead guilty to multiple federal charges, including under-age sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the US government.

As part of his cooperation with federal prosecutors, Greenberg – a local tax collector in the Orlando, Florida area – admitted he had repeatedly paid young women to attend parties with him and his friends, where they used drugs and had sex.

At least one of the girls he paid for sex was 17 years old at the time – and Greenberg alleged that Gaetz had also had sex with her – a claim federal authorities investigated but were unable to verify.

No charges were filed against Gaetz, who has fiercely denied these allegations, and the probe was later closed.

But now, the explosive claim sits at the core of the House ethics probe and is endangering his nomination.

The committee inquiry had been paused to allow the Justice Department to do its work. Gaetz claimed it was only revived because then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy considered him a nagging thorn in the side of Republican leadership.

Last year, Gaetz spearheaded an unprecedented internal revolt to oust McCarthy from the speakership – the top job in the US House of Representatives. The California Republican, who resigned from Congress less than three months later, has claimed Gaetz only wanted him removed because of the ethics investigation.

Gaetz’s nomination as Attorney General this past Thursday was followed hours later with his resignation from the House.

His resignation halted the release – which was reportedly planned just days later – of the ethics probe’s findings. His departure from Congress means he is no longer under congressional jurisdiction.

An attorney who represents the then-minor has called for the report’s release, saying that she had testified to the committee that she had sex with Gaetz while “she was a high school student, and there were witnesses”.

Sitting House Speaker Mike Johnson argued against the report’s release in a Sunday appearance on Fox News, saying it could “open Pandora’s box” if the panel started issuing reports into those who are not members of the body.

“We don’t issue investigations and ethics reports on people who are not members of Congress,” he said. “I think this would be a breach of protocol that could be dangerous for us going forward in the future.”

He also told reporters that he would “strongly request” the report isn’t made public because the rules outline that “a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics committee”.

Members of the committee planned to meet behind closed doors on Friday and hold a vote on whether to release the report.

But the meeting never happened, with Chairman Michael Guest saying it was postponed and would be re-scheduled. Guest has previously indicated he is inclined to “maintain [the] confidentiality” of the panel’s work.

Public pressure is, however, mounting and even some Senate Republicans, who will be tasked with vetting his nomination and voting on whether to confirm him to the attorney general post, have indicated they would like to see the report.

Also on Friday, Joel Leppard – an attorney who represents two women who have testified in the ethics probe – said one of his clients said she had witnessed Gaetz having sex with the then-17-year-old.

“What if sworn testimony detailed conduct that would disqualify anyone from serving as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer?” he said in a statement.

“Democracy demands transparency. Release the Gaetz Ethics report.”

CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, has learned that the committee has heard from at least four women who say they were paid to attend parties with drugs and sex where Gaetz was allegedly present, and the panel has seen evidence of transactions on the Venmo mobile app between Gaetz and the women.

Many in Washington expect that, even if the report is not formally released, it may yet be leaked to the press.