President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he will nominate Matt Gaetz to be attorney general has resurrected questions about Justice Department and House ethics investigations into Gaetz’s conduct and whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl who was being paid for her services.
Here is what we know about the investigations and allegations.
The Justice Department investigated Gaetz but never charged him
In 2019, federal authorities in Florida opened a public corruption investigation into one of Gaetz’s close associates, an Orlando-area local tax collector named Joel Greenberg.
Fashioning himself as a local version of Trump, Greenberg was elected to his position in 2016. Shortly thereafter, he began using taxpayer money to buy sports memorabilia, harvest bitcoin and hire cronies, according to federal prosecutors and people familiar with the investigation.
As part of the investigation into Greenberg, authorities gained access to Greenberg’s electronics, revealing that Greenberg had repeatedly paid young women — whom he met on a website — to attend parties with him and his friends where they used drugs and had sex.
Investigators would ultimately determine that one of the girls who was paid for sex was younger than 18 at the time.
In an attempt to stave off a lengthy prison sentence for having sex with a minor, Greenberg began cooperating with federal authorities in August 2020. He told authorities that Gaetz, who had been elected to the House in 2016, had sex with the same girl, who was 17 at the time, and that Gaetz knew she was being paid.
Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Scheller, provided authorities with additional evidence that he claimed backed up Greenberg’s testimony.
Gaetz said the allegations were unfounded and were part of an effort by his political enemies to destroy him.
The Justice Department spent two years investigating Gaetz, interviewing the women and examining a range of documents. If investigators proved that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old, it would expose him to federal sex trafficking laws that come with a mandatory 10-year prison sentence.
Last year, the Justice Department ended the investigation without charging Gaetz.
The House Ethics Committee also investigated
The House Ethics Committee began an investigation into Gaetz in 2021 when The New York Times reported that he was under federal investigation. But because there was an ongoing Justice Department investigation, the committee paused its inquiry until after federal prosecutors wrapped up their work.
Over the past year and a half, the committee has examined a range of allegations about Gaetz, including whether he showed nude photos of women to other members on the floor of the House; whether he used illegal drugs; whether he had sex with the 17-year-old and knew she was being paid; and whether he misused campaign funds for personal purposes.
Gaetz blamed Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker at the time, for reviving the investigation. Gaetz said the inquiry was retribution for his being a thorn in the side of House Republican leaders.
The panel interviewed several of the women who Greenberg said had sex with Gaetz, including the 17-year-old. The panel also subpoenaed Greenberg for documents he had related to Gaetz, some of which surfaced in a related lawsuit that was later dropped.
In response to questions about the subpoena, Scheller refused to say what documents may have been handed over but said: “Mr. Greenberg has fully responded to all congressional requests.”
When Gaetz resigned his House seat following Trump’s announcement, the panel lost jurisdiction over him, and the investigation ended. On Thursday, lawmakers in both parties called on the panel to release its report.
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