Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is already having a bad week, and it just got worse because he’s now connected to other activities stemming from a Justice Department investigation into his alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
On Thursday, it was revealed that Gaetz would brag about sexual conquests on the House floor and inside the Capitol by showing people photographs of naked women he had supposedly slept with. It’s certainly a report that does not make Gaetz look good in the wake of a bombshell report that he brought an underage girl across state lines to have sex with her, a felony that could put him behind bars for a decade.
But even more shoes are dropping as the probe continues because it turns out that Gaetz apparently used Cash App and Apple Pay to pay women for sex.
According to the New York Times:
A Justice Department investigation into Representative Matt Gaetz and an indicted Florida politician is focusing on their involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments, according to people close to the investigation and text messages and payment receipts reviewed by The New York Times. Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters. Mr. Greenberg introduced the women to Mr. Gaetz, who also had sex with them, the people said. The Times has reviewed receipts from Cash App, a mobile payments app, and Apple Pay that show payments from Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg to one of the women, and a payment from Mr. Greenberg to a second woman.
That’s incredibly damning evidence, and if Gaetz paid the 17-year-old for sex as well, he’s screwed.
And that’s not all. Gaetz is also connected to a fake ID scheme.
Information that may connect Gaetz to a fake ID scheme at the center of the case against that second Florida politician, Joel Greenberg, was presented to federal investigators in a meeting early last year, according to two other people familiar with the matter. In the meeting, which has not been previously reported, a witness provided evidence linking Gaetz to Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Florida, who was arrested last year on charges that include sex trafficking of a minor and fabricating fake IDs.
Make no mistake, Gaetz has a lot to answer for and should be removed from House committees and expelled. And no matter how much Republicans try to distance themselves from him, just remember that they supported Gaetz for years and allowed him to make unwarranted attacks against Democrats and cheered his vote to overthrow democracy back in January. They should be held just as accountable for his alleged crimes.
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