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Matt Gaetz Faces New Sex Trafficking Lawsuit
Confirmed
In Short: The accounts agree that Gaetz is facing a federal civil lawsuit alleging sex trafficking and paying women for sex, and that he denies the allegations.
Two women, identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, filed a federal civil lawsuit against Gaetz and two other men in the Middle District of Florida.
The lawsuit alleges that Gaetz paid women for sex and engaged in activities involving young women, illicit drugs, and interstate travel between 2017 and 2019.
According to the complaint, Jane Doe 1 was 20 and Jane Doe 2 was 22 when they met Gaetz in the summer of 2017.
The women claim that Gaetz and his associates used their public office, power, and wealth to exploit their economic vulnerability.
One of the women alleges she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, and both women allege Gaetz paid them thousands of dollars.
The lawsuit relies in part on a House Ethics Committee report that concluded Gaetz paid roughly a dozen women for sex between 2017 and 2020.
Gaetz, who resigned from Congress amid intense scrutiny, denies the allegations and says he intends to challenge the version of events alleged by his accusers.
In a statement, Gaetz said, “I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false.”
The attorney representing the two women believes Gaetz and the other defendants should face criminal prosecution over their alleged actions.
Gaetz also took to X to share Instagram accounts he suggested belonged to women involved in the lawsuit, despite reportedly acknowledging that he wasn’t certain whether he had identified the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit accuses Gaetz and two co-defendants of involvement in activities involving young women, illicit drugs, and interstate travel.
Gaetz’s accusers claim that he threatened one of them with a lawsuit if she didn’t pay him $2.3 million dollars, but she never sued him because her story is fiction.
What this adds
The lawsuit and the Ethics Committee report provide a detailed account of Gaetz’s alleged misconduct, including his use of illegal drugs and solicitation of prostitutes.
Background
A new federal lawsuit accuses former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz of sex trafficking and paying women for sex.
What's confirmed
- Disgraced former Congressman Matt Gaetz is facing a new lawsuit alleging that the Florida Republican participated in a sex trafficking scheme.
- “I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz said in a statement.
- Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is facing allegations of sex trafficking by two women who filed a civil lawsuit against him and two other men in federal court Thursday.
- The women filed the lawsuit anonymously as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
- “The defendants collectively used their public office, power, and wealth to prey on the economic vulnerability of the plaintiffs to commit the acts outlined below,” states the 38-page lawsuit.
What's still developing
- To make extra cash, she signed up for a website that connected older men with younger women ages 18 and older for “sugar dating” relationships.
- “I never had sex with this person,” the former congressman told the Times in a text message.
- The alleged incidents recounted in the lawsuit occurred between 2017 and 2019.
- "That's precisely why Congress enacted laws to protect trafficking victims." According to a 33-page complaint obtained by Newsweek, Greenberg recruited women through the website SeekingArrangement.com and introduced them to a group of men that included Gaetz and Dorworth.
- Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, is serving an 11-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2021 to multiple offenses, including sex trafficking of a minor, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, stalking and conspiracy.
- “Jane Doe Strikes Again. Two adult women sued me today alleging they were sex trafficked to the Bahamas. I’m shocked nobody responded to their repeated cries for help, posted to instagram,” Gaetz posted.
- “Greenberg promised Jane Doe 2 that she would be ‘well compensated’ for attending but gave her little details about what would be required from her,” the complaint claims.
- Gaetz failed to secure enough support and withdrew his nomination.