Woman testified to House Ethics Committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17: sources

The woman at the center of a yearslong Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the now-former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old, sources familiar are with the investigation told ABC News.

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Gaetz had been named attorney general, overseeing the branch of government that previously conducted its own investigation into him, which ended without charges last year.

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Gaetz resigned after Trump’s announcement. This came as the House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its investigation, sources said, adding that the committee was preparing to meet this week to deliberate on whether to issue a final report on the matter are released.

Over the summer, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee subpoenaed the woman at the center of the investigation — who is now in her 20s — and she submitted several days of testimony testifying to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her had when she was young. a minor in high school, sources close to the investigation say.

The Justice Department investigated the allegations for years, including allegations of obstruction of justice, before informing Gaetz last year that she wouldn’t press charges.

Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing in connection with the Justice Department investigation. In September, he provided a detailed response to questions sent to him by the House Ethics Committee, which investigates allegations of alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, reiterating his denial of the allegations.

“Your correspondence dated September 4 asks if I have engaged in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18. The answer to this question is an unequivocal NO. You can apply this answer to any version of this question, in any forum,” Gaetz said in a statement posted to his social media account.

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The woman’s allegation regarding Gaetz became part of the investigation following claims by former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, a former friend of Gaetz who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after reaching a deal in May 2021 with investigators in which he pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes, including sex trafficking the woman when she was a minor and introducing her to other “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was a minor.

According to Greenberg’s plea agreement, the woman, who ABC News is not identifying, met Greenberg online in 2017 and began meeting him at hotels and homes in the Middle District of Florida, where he “introduced the minor to other adult males, who engaged in engaging in commercial sex acts with the minor in the Middle District of Florida,” according to court documents.

The minor “represented at the time that she was an adult” on the website where she met Greenberg – and according to his plea agreement, he acknowledges that he “acted recklessly without regard to the fact that the minor was less than 18 years old.” old when he engaged in commercial sex acts” and had a “reasonable opportunity to observe” that she was a minor.

In the course of its investigation, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee has at least conducted interviews half a dozen women who reportedly attended parties that the Florida congressman also attended and were paid by Greenberg, Gaetz’s former close friend, sources told ABC News. Some witnesses had been subpoenaed by the committee, while others were willing to cooperate, according to the sources.

The House of Representatives Ethics Committee also issued a subpoena Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend for testimony, and said she sat for an interview earlier this year, sources said. The former girlfriend previously testified before a grand jury in the sex trafficking investigation, as ABC News previously reported.

The committee also obtained a sworn written statement from Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend listing the Florida congresswoman as one of those present at a July 2017 exhumation party attended by the woman with whom Gaetz allegedly had sex when she was a minor, sources said.

ABC News previously reported that the committee obtained written testimony from a separate woman who said that in July 2017, when she was 20 years old, she attended a party in Florida that Gaetz also attended, and which was attended by the underage woman . at the time and where drugs, including cocaine, were present.

Greenberg, a key witness in the Justice Department investigation, cooperated with the House Ethics investigation, according to sources. Earlier this year, while in a federal prison in Florida, he provided written testimony to the committee, the sources said.

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Some witnesses were shown Venmo payments they allegedly received from Gaetz, sources said.

As ABC News previously reported, a woman who said she attended a party with Gaetz in 2017, whom ABC News is not identifying, told the committee that a payment from Gaetz was for sex, multiple sources told ABC News. Others have said they were paid to attend parties that Gaetz said they attended, and that those parties also involved drugs and sex, the sources said.

Gaetz has long denied all allegations, including paying for sex, and has previously dismissed them, claiming that “someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something unpleasant.”

Earlier this year, the committee subpoenaed the Justice Department for records related to the investigation into the Florida congressman, sources said. It is unclear whether these documents have been transferred.

However, the committee had obtained some of Gaetz’s Venmo data after issuing a subpoena to the company, sources told ABC News. During the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz, public reporting, including by The Daily Beast, focused largely on Venmo data belonging to Greenberg, who, according to his plea deal, used his account to “pay for commercial sex acts” with women he also introduced. others.