Lawyer says women told House panel they were paid by Gaetz for sexual favors

Two women testified to the House Ethics Committee that they were paid for “sexual favors” by former Rep. and President-elect Matt Gaetz. Donald Trump‘s elect attorney generalAn attorney for the two women told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Monday:

Additionally, one of the women testified to a congressional panel that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with her then-underage friend in 2017, attorney Joel Leppard said on “OutFront.” CNN reported This detail is Friday.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Leppard said his client testified that he did not believe Gaetz knew at the time that his friend was underage.

The ethics investigation effectively ended with Gaetz immediately resigning from Congress after Trump announced the Florida Republican was the president-elect to head the Justice Department. However, panel still being weighed whether a report regarding the investigation will be made public and meeting was planned Wednesday.

The committee also heard from the underage woman who testified that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17, according to two sources familiar with the congressional investigation.

One of Leppard’s clients had been a friend of the then-underage boy since high school, the lawyer said Monday.

“He was invited to a party in July 2017,” Leppard told Burnett about his client. “She testified to the House that while walking toward the pool area, she turned right and witnessed her friend having sex with Representative Gaetz. His friend was also 17 years old at the time.”

Leppard said both clients testified to the congressional panel that they received payments for sex from Gaetz, often through Venmo or PayPal, from the summer of 2017 to the beginning of 2019. Leppard said there are “numerous events” attended by his clients. Paid for sex by Florida congressman.

“There were events on Airbnbs. Incidents occurred in individuals’ homes. “There were incidents that occurred at political events,” Leppard said. “There was a trip to New York. There was a trip to the Bahamas. So events like this occurred from time to time, maybe more than 10 times from July 2017 through early January 2019.”

Gaetz specifically denied having sex with a minor or paying for sex. Asked on Friday about testimony from Leppard’s client, who said he witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor, a spokesperson for Gaetz told CNN: “Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice exonerated Matt Gaetz and did not charge him .”

The House ethics investigation, which began in 2021, is in addition to a Justice Department criminal investigation that was launched during the first Trump administration and closed last year without any charges against Gaetz.

CNN reported In January, a House committee expanded its ethics investigation to include Gaetz and had previously reached out to the underage woman for a statement. The committee said in June that it was continuing to investigate allegations that Gaetz “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, provided special privileges and favors to people with whom he had personal relationships, and attempted to obstruct the government.” “Investigations into his behavior are being carried out.”

Earlier, the minor woman’s attorney called for the commission to release its final report on Gaetz’s ethics investigation.

“Mr. Gaetz’s possible nomination as Attorney General is a twist in a truly dark series of events. We support the immediate release of the House Ethics Committee’s report. He was a high school student and there were eyewitnesses,” said attorney John Clune. he tweeted last week.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee asked the House panel to turn over its report and materials that formed the basis of the congressional investigation. Some Senate Republicans also expressed interest in seeing the report, but House Speaker Mike Johnson opposed its release. All 10 members of the House ethics panel have access to the draft report, CNN reported early Monday.

After years of sex trafficking investigation, the Justice Department decided not to file criminal charges against Gaetz. CNN previously reported that prosecutors were working on the case. Recommends not indicting Gaetz because of questions about whether the main witnesses would be perceived as credible to the jury.

Sources close to the alleged victim have refuted any claims that he is not trustworthy.

“Any first-year law student can tell you that just because a career prosecutor who may never have lost a case decides not to file charges, perhaps for reasons we don’t know, doesn’t mean someone is innocent,” Leppard said. Burnett.

He said his clients also hope the report will be published.

“They want the truth to be known and they don’t want everything they’ve done to go to waste,” Leppard said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Annie Grayer, Haley Talbot and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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