Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz allegedly flew 2 women to New York and paid them for sex: Lawyer

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt GaetzHe allegedly paid two women in 2019 to have sex, watch him on Fox News and travel to New York to attend the “Pretty Woman” show on Broadway, one of the women’s lawyers told ABC News.

Florida attorney Joel Leppard revealed new details about his clients’ closed-door testimony before the bipartisan special committee in an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang; including his clients telling congressional investigators that Gaetz paid them to cross state lines have sex in at least two cases.

The attorney said the women also gave the committee text messages in which they allegedly exchanged words with Gaetz about drug purchases and payments that the attorney said were partly for sex.

Gaetz, who President-elect Donald Trump picked to serve as attorney general last week, has denied any wrongdoing. Ministry of Justice Refused to blame Gaetz Following a year-long investigation into the allegations, members of the House Ethics Committee are considering releasing a report summarizing the findings of their own investigation into Gaetz, who resigned from Congress following Trump’s announcement.

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Regarding all the allegations involving Gaetz, Trump transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told ABC News: “Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He is the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system.”

Pfeiffer said about the allegations that the Justice Department began investigating and the Justice Department’s decision not to file charges: “These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.” first Trump administration.

Leppard told ABC News about a trip to New York that clients said Gaetz paid for in January 2019.

“They stated that they met with Matt Gaetz in New York in January 2019 to appear on Fox News… Mr. Gates paid for their tickets to come to New York for the trip,” Leppard told Chang. “They were asked to have sex with Rep. Gaetz, and then they were able to go out and watch whatever show they wanted to see that night. So they were able to essentially get it all done and have fun later.”

According to Leppard, his clients told the Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them to travel to New York for sex in January 2019, during a trip during which the then-congressman appeared on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” talk show .

Gaetz, who was allegedly with another woman in New York, brought the women to visit Fox News studios, have dinner and then see a play called “Pretty Woman,” about a wealthy businessman who falls in love with a woman. whore, said the lawyer.

ABC News independently confirmed Gaetz’s in-studio appearance on Fox News on January 4, 2019; The lawyer said his clients stated that they spent time with Gaetz and that the “Pretty Woman” program was airing on Broadway at the time.

“Is their testimony that Rep. Gaetz took them across state lines for the purpose of having sex and paid for it?” Chang asked.

“That’s true,” Leppard replied.

Summarizing what his clients told the House Ethics Committee, Leppard told ABC News that Gaetz allegedly had sex with his then-adult clients about 10 to 15 times, primarily during smaller events such as drug-filled parties or private parties. She would take trips to New York or the Bahamas, and on many of those occasions she was paid by the then-congressman in exchange for sex.

“They testified to the House that this was their understanding of the payments, that’s why they were there, to have a good time, to have fun, to be free and to have sex with the gentlemen who were there, including Representative Gaetz,” Leppard said.

According to Leppard, the ages of the men attending the parties ranged from 30 to 50, and the ages of the women ranged from 19 to 21.

“Both of my clients testified that they had sex with Representative Gaetz and that the payments they received from him were in part for sexual favors,” Leppard said.

Leppard explained that his clients testified that Gaetz paid for them to travel to the Bahamas with other young women; among them was the woman who claimed the then-congressman had sex with her. when he was little.

“It was a vacation to the Bahamas and they were my clients; the minor, a few women and of course the gentleman who was there,” Leppard said. he said. He was over 18 at the time of the Bahamas trip.

The trip to the Bahamas was part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz, which ultimately did not result in charges against the congressman, sources previously told ABC News.

“They stated that the trip itself to the Congress was a payment,” Leppard said, explaining that their customers were not compensated financially other than their travel and expenses during this trip.

According to Leppard, the years-long relationship with Gaetz continues to put pressure on his clients, who believe the information they gave in hours-long depositions in multiple investigations should come to light.

Leppard said the two women told the House panel how they spent years in counseling paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the investigation.

“The House asked: ‘Do you believe you were a victim of Matt Gaetz?’ said Leppard. “My client paused and said, ‘That’s a hard question for me to ask,’ then she started crying and said she was actually getting counseling.”

“My clients have been receiving consulting services paid for by the FBI for years,” Leppard said.

Leppard added that his clients said their sexual relations with Gaetz were completely consensual and that they attended the parties voluntarily.

“They stated that everything they did was consensual and that they were never forced to do anything,” Leppard said. “They stated that drugs sometimes impair their judgment and that they were expected to use drugs, but they were never forced to use drugs, but that drugs made it easier to do what they did.”

Leppard said his clients, one of whom was a student at the time, decided to attend parties where they had sex with Gaetz and others in order to earn enough money to pay rent.

“This was literally the kind of situation where they said, ‘Hey, I have to pay rent this month. Let’s go out and go to some of these events,’ and ‘Here’s how we’re going to pay the rent.'”

Leppard also said his clients provided text messages to the House Ethics Committee and reviewed Venmo records that they said documented Gaetz’s alleged payments for sex and coded requests for illegal drugs, including marijuana and MDMA. Messages like “vitamins” or “party favors”.

“Party favors of course meant MDMA or Molly consumed at each of these events,” Leppard said.

“(Gaetz) He would like to use terms like ‘vitamins’ or his favorite term was ‘party favors’. “The lawyer might say, ‘Who brings favors to the party?’ or ‘Make sure we bring favors to the party,'” he said.

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence reach agreement He met with prosecutors in May 2021 to plead guilty to multiple federal charges, including sex-trafficking an underage woman and introducing her to other “adult men” who had sex with her when she was a minor.

The lawyer said Leppard’s client told House investigations that taking MDMA or ecstasy was “more or less an expectation” for those who attended sex parties, but that he did not directly see Gaetz take ecstasy.

“The representative testified that Gaetz appeared to be under the influence of drugs and that he witnessed him consuming marijuana, I believe, from time to time,” Leppard said.

According to Leppard, both clients were paid to entertain partygoers and have sex with them.

“They essentially got together to party, take drugs and have sex,” Leppard said.

Leppard said the payments from Gaetz ranged from $200 to $500 and were labeled as ordinary purchases such as gas or hotel trips. Women occasionally offered free sex, as Gaetz or Greenberg demanded by calling for “Customer Appreciation Week.”

According to Leppard, both of his clients confirmed to the House Ethics Committee that the payments were made in exchange for sexual favors.

“The Legislature was very clear about this and reviewed each one. They essentially put Venmo payments on the screen and asked questions about them. Over and over, my customers asked, ‘What was that payment for?’ ‘This was for sex,'” Leppard testified.

Leppard emphasized that both women had been speaking to investigators for years, during both the House investigation and the Justice Department investigation, and denied that their claims were in any way politically motivated.

“Now that they’ve been through all of this, they don’t want to go through this again, and given that Rep. Gaetz is thought to be the most powerful law enforcement officer in the country, I think that’s relevant information. “The American people need to take notice,” Leppard said.