As the House Ethics Committee faces increasing pressure to release its report on Matt Gaetz, a lawyer for two women who testified before the panel provided new details this week about their allegations against the former congressman.
Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump has picked to lead the Justice Department in his incoming administration, paid one of the women for sex at an invitation-only house party in Orlando, Florida, in 2017, her lawyer, Joel Leppard, told NBC News. The woman also said she saw Gaetz having sex with her 17-year-old friend at that party, Leppard said. Gaetz was a member of the House at the time, representing Florida, where prostitution is illegal.
According to Leppard, the woman, who was 19 at the time, was introduced to Gaetz almost immediately after arriving at the party and then taken upstairs to have sex with him. Later on in the evening, she saw Gaetz and her minor friend having sex against a game table, Leppard said.
The woman told the committee that she did not think Gaetz knew that her friend was a minor, Leppard said, adding that Gaetz “stopped their sexual relationship” when he found out and “did not resume it until after she turned 18” in late 2017.
The woman told the committee earlier this year about the alleged encounter Gaetz had with her friend at the party, Leppard said. “This is a very vivid memory that she has,” he added.
Gaetz, 42, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department separately investigated sex trafficking allegations against him and concluded its probe last year without bringing any charges. The House Ethics Committee was reportedly set to vote last week on whether to release its report on its own investigation into allegations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. But the panel’s jurisdiction over the matter ended last week with Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from Congress after Trump said he would nominate him to serve as attorney general.
The two women were subpoenaed to testify before the House Ethics Committee and provided documentation to the panel, including text messages between them and Gaetz, Leppard told NBC News. The women also told the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex several times, Leppard said.
Gaetz’s representatives directed NBC News to the Trump transition team’s statement, which called the allegations “baseless” and said they were meant to “derail the second Trump administration.”
The details about the women’s alleged interactions with Gaetz come as the former congressman faces a difficult path to confirmation by the Senate. The House Ethics Committee is under mounting pressure — including from within — to release its report on Gaetz, and some Senate Republicans have indicated that they’re not on board with his nomination.