Matt Gaetz accused of paying House Party guests for sex: lawyer

Matt Gaetz is accused of paying for sex with two women at a house party in Florida in 2017.

The allegations were revealed by his unnamed accusers’ attorney, Joel Leppard, in an interview with ABC News Monday. The allegations date back seven years, when Gaetz was an unmarried freshman member of Congress in his mid-30s.

Leppard said his clients testified before a House ethics committee as part of the investigation into Gaetz. That investigation was reportedly set to be released last week but was ultimately withdrawn after Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress within hours of being announced as Donald Trump’s appointed attorney general.

One of the women has also claimed that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl at the party.

“She testified (that) in July 2017, during a house party, she was walking to the pool, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her girlfriend who was 17,” Leppard said. ABC News.

A 2021 Daily Beast report revealed that Gaetz’s friend, Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, was in a confession letter that Gaetz had paid him to arrange sex with several women and a 17-year-old girl. The Beast also revealed private Venmo logs which showed that Gaetz sent money to Greenberg.

“On more than one occasion, this individual engaged in sexual activity with several other girls, the Congressman for Florida’s 1st Congressional District, and myself,” Greenberg wrote in his confession.

He added: “From time to time, petrol money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was under 18. I saw the actions happen first hand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the congressman.

At another point, Greenberg wrote that his attorneys “know that he paid me to pay for the girls” and “that he and I both had sex with the underage girl.”

The Justice Department, which Gaetz will soon oversee as attorney general if he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate, has been investigating these types of allegations against Gaetz for years. However, the lawmaker was told last year that no charges would be filed against him.

Gaetz, 42, has categorically denied doing anything wrong for years.

Sources told ABC News that the House Ethics Committee will meet Wednesday to decide whether to release its report on Gaetz, despite the fact that he is no longer in Congress.

This is a developing story that will be updated.