A girl testified earlier than the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed former congressman Matt Gaetz partaking in sexual activity with a minor at a celebration in Orlando, Florida, in 2017, in keeping with her legal professional, Joel Leppard.
“My consumer testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Rep. Gaetz having intercourse with a minor at a home celebration in Orlando in 2017,” Leppard advised NBC News on Friday.
The girl, who offered testimony to the ethics panel earlier this 12 months, detailed the alleged incident to the committee in April. “The American individuals should know the reality concerning the individual slated to develop into the highest regulation enforcement officer within the nation,” Leppard argued, referring to Gaetz’s nomination by President-elect Donald Trump for legal professional normal.
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Justice Department will deliver no prices towards Gaetz
This improvement follows an ABC News report {that a} key determine in a Justice Department investigation into intercourse trafficking allegations towards Gaetz additionally testified earlier than the ethics panel. The witness, now in her 20s, claimed Gaetz had intercourse along with her when she was 17 and nonetheless in highschool. Gaetz dismissed the claims calling them a “false smear.”
The Justice Department had beforehand knowledgeable Gaetz that no prices could be introduced towards him after a prolonged investigation into the allegations. However, the House Ethics Committee continued its separate inquiry.
The Florida Republican abruptly resigned from Congress on Wednesday following Trump’s nomination of him to steer the Department of Justice.
“These allegations are invented and would represent false testimony to Congress,” Gaetz mentioned in an announcement to The New York Post. “This false smear following a three-year felony investigation must be seen with nice scepticism.”
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“On July 10, 2024, I offered the Committee dispositive proof of my innocence by producing a ‘smoking gun’ contemporaneous, jailhouse writing, documenting the plot to border me, which incorporates each Joel Greenberg and his sufferer,” Gaetz wrote. “This was authenticated by two former federal brokers who interviewed the jailhouse informant who revealed the plot towards me.”