Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend has been subpoenaed to appear before the House Ethics Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into the Republican.
He is scheduled to testify via a Zoom call before the committee at the end of the month, according to a letter sent to his attorney.
The unidentified woman was previously contacted by the committee for an interview and told them she would “declare the fifth,” a source said. ABC News.
His attorney, Tim Jansen, told the outlet: “Of course we will comply with the subpoena and appear before the committee.”
“However, we have informed staff that my client will invoke his Fifth Amendment right before the Committee.”
The committee demands that Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend appear before them via a Zoom call on February 29.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his wife Ginger attend the Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, July 19, 2023.
Sources also told ABC that investigators are looking to speak to his ex about allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, drug abuse and possible lobbying violations.
The outlet also reported that the woman has knowledge of a 17-year-old girl who was at the center of a sex trafficking investigation against Gaetz.
The Justice Department closed its investigation into the allegations and decided not to charge Gaetz.
The ex was also one of the women who was allegedly on a trip to the Bahamas in 2018 with Gaetz and others, including the minor, the sources added.
It comes after a woman claimed she had sex with Gaetz at a “drug-fueled” orgy she was paid to attend after text messages emerged suggesting Gaetz had solicited her for a trip to the Keys from Florida.
The woman’s lawyer told the daily beast that she was paid to attend multiple sex parties with people in Gaetz’s circle and that on one occasion she had sexual relations with the Republican Representative.
‘She said [the investigators] “That she and many girls were provided with all types of controlled substances at these parties,” the lawyer said.
“The availability of large amounts of alcohol and controlled substances led to a lack of control of the hormonal imperative, inspiring people to engage in intimate behaviors that may or may not have been because they were financially remunerated.”
The shocking revelation comes after Gaetz’s spokesperson denied that the congressman had any knowledge of the woman when ABC News reported text messages showing that Gaetz had arranged a trip and his partner Joel Greenberg was paying him for sex.
The Ethics Committee reportedly met behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the allegations against the Florida congressman.
The ex was also one of the women who was allegedly on a trip to the Bahamas in 2018 with Gaetz and others, including the minor, sources said. Gaetz appears here with his wife Ginger in 2021
The Ethics Committee, chaired by Republican Michael Guest, would have met behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the accusations against the Florida congressman.
The woman turned over text messages, photographs and other evidence to the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee, according to her attorney. She also testified before US prosecutors in response to a subpoena.
Venmo transactions reviewed by the Daily Beast show the woman received about $2,500 from Greenberg, Gaetz’s now-imprisoned friend, between March and July 2017.
Greenberg entered notes that included “trips,” “being cool,” “stuff” and the misspelled name of another Greenberg associate for those payments.
In July 2017, she requested $500 from Greenberg and entered a policewoman emoji in the note line.
That same week, Gaetz, Greenberg and Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone were captured in a selfie together in Miami, which they shared on social media.
The House Ethics Committee first opened an investigation into Gaetz in April 2021, but paused it during the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations that Gaetz had engaged in sex trafficking, which concluded in February of the year. past when she decided not to press charges against him.
In spring 2021, Gaetz’s associate, who had also attended those parties, allegedly met with the woman to determine whether she revealed any information and details about the gatherings to others.
The lawyer said his client felt intimidated and that the only purpose of the meeting was to keep her mouth shut.
“This associate was there asking him over and over again what he had said, demanding that he tell him,” the attorney said.
His client’s decision to come forward was “a difficult and emotionally draining experience,” the lawyer said.
In July 2021, Gaetz, Greenberg, and Roger Stone were captured in a selfie together in Miami, which they shared on social media.
Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and stalking a political opponent in a plea deal with prosecutors in May 2021.
“The fact that nothing came of it has surprised her, since she, along with everyone else, had been the center of such an intense investigation,” the woman’s lawyer said.
“For them to go through all that and then for the target of the investigation to only get a wink and a nod has created for some of them a loss of faith in the system.”
The Daily Beast reported that it obtained text messages, transaction history and photographs, including a selfie of the woman posing with Gaetz.
Some of the text and images he obtained matched documents described by ABC News in its coverage of the matter, the outlet reports.
It was also revealed earlier this week that text messages reportedly show Gaetz asking the woman to fly on a private plane and join him, another woman and three other men in the Keys.
‘Hey, any interest in flying on a private plane to the Keys May 19-21?’ the congressman supposedly wrote.
Gaetz informed the woman, whom ABC News describes as “over the age of 21,” that the trip would feature “2 guys and 4 girls.” A very high quality adventuring group.’
“Yes, I’m in,” the woman responded.
Gaetz then allegedly responded: ‘Fantastic. As with all the time you spend with me, it will be fun and peaceful. […] Do you have a passport?
Both ABC and the Daily Beast report that the woman never ended up making the trip to the Florida Keys.
Greenberg reportedly told investigators that he paid the woman to have sex with other men on his behalf.
Gaetz’s office denied that the congressman knew that Greenberg had been paying the woman for sex.
Bank and Venmo records show payments from Greenberg to the woman that sources say were for her to have sex at parties with Greenberg’s friends.
‘Rep. Gaetz is not aware of these activities of Mr. Greenberg and did not participate in them.
‘Rep. Gaetz has never paid for sex. Rep. Gaetz knows nothing about the woman you’re referring to, even though she takes thousands of selfies every year.
Gaetz’s office denied that the congressman knew that Greenberg had been paying the woman for sex.
Gaetz, who has been married to Ginger Luckey, says the allegations are a mischaracterization of his single days.
Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and stalking a political opponent in a plea deal with prosecutors in May 2021.
He was a key witness in the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations that Gaetz had also sexually trafficked the same minor.
Greenberg allegedly wrote a letter to Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone in an attempt to obtain a pardon from the then-president.
The messages, purportedly between Stone and Greenberg, allegedly reveal that the disgraced tax collector was willing to pay $250,000 in bitcoin to Trump’s old friend, a convicted felon, to help secure a pardon.
One message, said to be from Stone, indicates that Gaetz had privately turned on Greenberg and advised Stone not to seek a pardon for Greenberg.
According to a 2021 New York Times report, investigators believed Gaetz and Greenberg instructed women they met online “to meet at certain times and places, often at hotels in Florida, and told them the number of money they were willing to pay. ‘
Gaetz, who has been married to Ginger Luckey since 2021, says the allegations are a gross mischaracterization of his single days. And the investigation ended without charges against him.
When asked about the latest developments, Gaetz told ABC: “The Ethics Committee is trying to get back at me for unseating the person who singularly appointed all Republicans: Kevin McCarthy.”
‘I see beyond this farce and the American people will too. Denouncing witch hunts is my thing around here.