Hacker gets ‘damaging’ testimony against Matt Gaetz

Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images

A hacker has reportedly stolen “unredacted” damaging testimonials related to the president-elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General elected Matt Gaetz from a secure document sharing platform used by attorneys representing plaintiffs.

The breach reportedly included statements from a minor and other witnesses, according to an email sent to the legal teams involved in the case and obtained by ABC News with additional details revealed by a source to the New York Times.

The trove of documents, consisting of 24 pieces of evidence, includes affidavits from a woman who claims she had sex with Mr Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17. Another woman confirmed the story and claimed to have witnessed the encounter.

The hacked documents were part of a civil lawsuit filed by a Florida businessman Christopher Dorwortha former employee of Gaetz, against the women and Joel Groenberga convicted sex trafficker now serving an 11-year prison sentence.

The breach occurred on Monday, with the hacker operating under the alias “Altam Beezley,” the source said. Lawyers involved in the case tried to reach the hacker via the associated email, but an automated response stated that the account did not exist. The motive for the hack remains unclear and the stolen material has yet to surface publicly.

These documents, which contain the unredacted personal information of witnesses, reportedly contain gate logs from a July 2017 party at Dorworth’s home where drugs and sexual encounters allegedly involving Gaetz took place. Testimony of Dorworth, his wife, and Michael Fischerthe former treasurer of Gaetz’s campaign, is also among the exhibits.

Although the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee previously investigated Gaetz, no charges were filed. The Ethics Panel, which recently completed its investigation, will meet Wednesday to determine whether to release its findings. However, the hacked documents stem from ongoing civil lawsuits and not from previous government investigations.

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