Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly used Venmo to send $900 one night in March 2018 to his friend and alleged sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, who then Venmo’d the same amount of money to three young women, including an 18-year-old, the next day.
The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday night that it had obtained records of the transactions, which were reportedly public on the app until this week, showing that Gaetz sent the $900 in two payments. The GOP congressman reportedly wrote “Test” in the memo field of the first payment, and “Hit up [name of 18-year-old]” in the second (the Daily Beast withheld her name).
Greenberg reportedly wrote “Tuition,” “School,” and “School” in Venmo payments to the three women that added up to $900 the next morning.
Gaetz told the Daily Beast through PR firm Logan Circle Group that “[t]he rumors, gossip and self-serving misstatements of others will be addressed in due course by my legal team.”
The new revelations of the Venmo payments emerge amid the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old and paying for her travel across state lines.
The probe stemmed from the criminal case against Greenberg, who has been charged with sex trafficking and others crimes involving abuse of office when he served as Seminole County tax collector. He is reportedly expected to plead guilty.
The sex trafficking charge against Greenberg involves the same 17-year-old in the investigation into Gaetz, according to the New York Times.
Investigators are also reportedly looking at “sugar daddy” payments Gaetz and Greenberg allegedly made to several women who were recruited for sex.
Gaetz, who has not been criminally charged, denies having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paying for sex.
