Leaked DOJ investigation into Matt Gaetz alleges web of payments over three years
The diagram charts how Gaetz and his associates allegedly sent thousands of dollars via Venmo to dozens of people involved in the ‘sex parties’ between 2017 and 2020
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Your support makes all the difference.A bombshell leaked document from the Justice Department investigation into Matt Gaetz alleged there was a web of payments between the former congressman and friends and associates said to have been with him at drug-fueled sex parties.
The meticulously detailed diagram, obtained by the New York Times, was assembled by federal investigators during the sex-trafficking investigation into Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.
It charts how Gaetz and associates, including convicted sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, allegedly sent thousands of dollars via Venmo to dozens of people who were reportedly involved in the sex parties between 2017 and 2020, according to testimony to federal and congressional investigators, the Times reported.
A copy of the chart was also provided to the House Ethics Committee, according to the paper.
Gaetz has vehemently denied all accusations, and the Justice Department ultimately never charged him with a crime or alleged any wrongdoing.
The House Ethics Committee also launched an investigation and was due to release a “highly damaging” report of its findings last week, before Gaetz’s attorney general nomination and subsequent resignation from the House derailed its publication.
The complex diagram alleges Greenberg was at the center of a string of payments. The Times redacted all the individuals named in the graphic other than Gaetz and his former ally Greenberg, who reached a deal with prosecutors in May 2021 to plead guilty to six federal crimes, including underage sex trafficking, after he was initially charged with 33 counts. He is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.
The paper reported that among those who received payment from Gaetz’s associates per the diagram was a woman who was 17 when she attended one of the parties. However, the chart does not specify what the payments were for nor does it show that Gaetz made a payment to the teenager.
The diagram does show payments investigators reportedly believe Gaetz and his allies made to two women who testified to the House Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex, according to their lawyer Joel Leppard.
One of Leppard’s clients received $4,025.27, the diagram allegedly shows, and the other received $3,500. There is a line from Gaetz to two redacted people for these amounts on the diagram.
Gaetz would allegedly typically pay the women between $200 and $500 for each encounter. The Times reported that the larger amounts combine several payments the women received from Gaetz.
The Independent has contacted the Trump transition team and the Justice Department for comment.
In a statement to the Times, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung claimed the Justice Department leaked the document and said it was classified. But the paper noted the diagram has no classified markings, nor does it relate to national security.
“This purposeful leaking of classified investigative materials is the sort of politicized D.O.J. weaponization that Matt Gaetz will end,” Cheung said.
“The Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years, failed to find a crime and are now leaking material with false information to smear the next attorney general.”
Other records obtained by ABC News found that Gaetz allegedly made 27 Venmo and PayPal payments with descriptive memos like “being awesome” and “being my friend,” some of which were allegedly payments for sex.
In total, he allegedly paid more than $10,000 to the two women who became witnesses in the sexual misconduct investigations, according to the report.
The receipts, which were said to have been displayed during closed-door testimony in the House Ethics Committee probe, reflect transactions between July 2017 and January 2019, when Gaetz was a newly elected representative.
On Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee was deadlocked over whether to release the report into Gaetz.
“There was no consensus on this issue,” Democratic Representative Susan Wild said, adding that the committee will meet again on December 5.
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