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Representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Has confirmed that he is under investigation by the Department of Justice, but denies allegations related to the investigation. John Raoux / AP hide caption
toggle caption John Raoux / AP
Representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Has confirmed that he is under investigation by the Department of Justice, but denies allegations related to the investigation.
John Raoux / AP
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, a conservative and vocal ally of former President Donald Trump, confirmed on Tuesday that he was under a Justice Department investigation for sexual misconduct, but denied the allegations related to the ‘investigation.
The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the Justice Department was investigating Gaetz, 38, to find out if he had sex with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him , possibly violating federal sex trafficking laws.
The Times report cited three anonymous sources familiar with the investigation. NPR has not independently confirmed the investigation. The Justice Department declined to comment.
The Times said the investigation began in the dying days of the Trump administration and that the investigation was part of a larger review by a Gaetz ally named Joel Greenberg, a former Florida County official who was charged with charges including sex trafficking of a child.
Greenberg has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“The allegations against me are as cruel as they are false,” Axios Gaetz, who represents Florida’s 1st Congressional District, told Axios Gaetz. “I believe there are people in the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual behavior, you know when I was single.”
Gaetz alleges that the investigation is linked to an attempt to extort him and his family from him by a former DOJ official. This ex-official asked for $ 25 million, Gaetz said.
“I know there was a demand for money in exchange for a pledge that he [the former DOJ official] could do away with this investigation, ”Gaetz told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson in an interview Tuesday night.
Gaetz told Carlson that his family cooperated with the FBI regarding the extortion attempt and that his father even carried a thread.
To clear his name, lawmakers called on the FBI and the Justice Department to immediately disclose wire conversations between the former DOJ official and Gaetz’s father.
Minority parliamentary leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Told Fox’s Dana Perino on Wednesday that Republicans in Congress would support Gaetz’s removal from his committee duties if the accusations were found to be true.
But McCarthy did not ask for his colleague’s dismissal while the investigation was ongoing.
“These are serious implications. If that were to hold true, yes we would withdraw it, if it did. But at the moment Matt Gaetz says that is not true. And we have no information. , so let’s go get all the information, ”McCarthy said.
The Minority Leader said he had yet to be in contact with the Justice Department or Gaetz regarding the charges, but hoped to speak to the Florida Republican later Wednesday afternoon.
When asked if Gaetz voted the only ‘no’ on a bipartisan anti-trafficking bill in 2017, a vote that drew further scrutiny in light of Tuesday’s report, McCarthy said to Perino that he had no idea why Gaetz would not have supported the legislation. “I have no idea why he would vote against it.”
At the time, Gaetz said the bill was unnecessary federal reach.
Even before this week’s news, Gaetz has been a controversial figure in Congress. He helped organize efforts to challenge President Biden’s Electoral College victory in Congress, and after a pro-Trump mob captured the Capitol, Gaetz alleged upstairs in the House that antifa members were among the rioters.
Shortly after the insurgency, the FBI directly refuted the idea, saying there was “no indication” that the antifa was involved.
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