Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) allegedly took part in Orlando-area house parties where attendees shared drugs like cocaine and ecstasy and where money was sometimes provided for sex, CNN reported early Wednesday.
Two women who attended some of the parties told CNN that money would change hands on some nights, although both women said they have not spoken with federal investigators in the Gaetz inquiry.
One of the party-going women interviewed by CNN said she received money from Gaetz’s associate former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg after some of the parties. She said that some of the payments were for providing sex although she did not say who she had sex with and said she never received money directly from Gaetz.
Receipts reviewed by the publication appear to indicate that Greenberg, who has been indicted on multiple charges including sex trafficking of a minor, used cash apps to send hundreds of dollars to at least one woman who attended the parties between 2018 and 2019. At least one of the receipts was labeled as compensation for travel, CNN reported.
One of the women describing Gaetz’s conduct at the parties, said that the now 38-year-old congressman behaved like a “frat type of party boy,” sometimes taking pills she believed were recreational drugs. But both women said that they never saw anyone at the parties who appeared to be underage.
The party details come as federal investigators probe the Florida congressman’s alleged involvement with women who were allegedly recruited online for sex and given cash payments, as well as whether he had sex with a 17-year-old and also violated sex trafficking laws.
The Daily Beast last week reported on Venmo transactions between Gaetz and Greenberg, which Greenberg is suspected to have the sent to three women in 2018.
The New York Times also reported on Tuesday night that Greenberg — who is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks — is now assisting Justice Department investigators in their inquiry into the Gaetz.
The GOP lawmaker has repeatedly denied allegations that he had sex with a minor and has also denied ever paying for sex. On Friday, at an event at Trump National Doral Miami, Gaetz cast allegations against him as “distortions of my personal life,” manufactured by his critics.
