House Ethics Obtains Text Messages From Gaetz Inviting Woman His Friend Paid for Sex on ‘High-Quality Adventurous’ Trip to Keys: Report

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Trouble may be brewing for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), according to a new ABC News report that House Ethics investigators had obtained text messages the congressman allegedly sent to a young woman his former friend Joel Greenberg had paid for sex, to invite her on a trip to the Florida Keys.

Greenberg is the former Seminole County Tax Collector, an elected position in each of the Sunshine State’s 67 counties that normally flies under the radar as the officials handle driver’s license and license plate renewals, among other mundane bureaucratic tasks. But Greenberg found his name in national headlines after a truly bonkers scheme in which he falsely accused Brian Beute, a local teacher and one of his 2020 primary opponents, of sexually assaulting a male student.

The accusations against Beute were totally false, but Greenberg’s involvement (his fingerprints and DNA were found on the false letters sent to Beute’s school, not exactly criminal mastermind stuff) ended up sparking a federal investigation that uncovered even more Greenberg schemes including using government resources to mine Bitcoin, giving his friends lucrative contracts, stealing surrendered driver’s licenses (the old ones Seminole County residents turned in when they moved and needed a new license) to make fake IDs, and even allegations that Greenberg had paid women for sex, including some that were underage.

Greenberg pled guilty in 2021 to 6 criminal charges in a stunning 86-page plea agreement in a federal court in Orlando. In the agreement, he admitted to paying for sex with an underage girl, giving her illegal drugs, and also “introduc[ing] the Minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts” with her.

The identity of the other “adult men” involved has been the subject of much speculation, with many political observers openly wondering about Gaetz’s involvement.

Gaetz has vociferously denied all allegations that he had sex with anyone underage or committed any other crimes connected to Greenberg, but the two were close friends before his arrest, with the congressman referring to Greenberg as his “wingman,” and Greenberg allegedly wrote a confession letter to none other than Roger Stone (seeking Stone’s help obtaining a pardon from then-President Donald Trump) claiming he and Gaetz did in fact pay an underage woman for sex. Just last month, Gaetz reportedly told his congressional colleagues he ousted Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the Speakership because McCarthy wouldn’t kill off the House Ethics investigation into this scandal.

And throughout this years-long messy saga, Gaetz’s name has repeatedly popped up. From my April 2021 Mediaite report:

In January 2020, months before Greenberg’s arrest, U.S. Secret Service agents got a tip from an employee of the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Lake Mary office about Greenberg allegedly making fake IDs, including a late night weekend trip to the office in April 2018.

Reportedly accompanying Greenberg on that nighttime escapade: his Congressional buddy, Gaetz.

Text messages the following Monday between the employee and Greenberg mention her seeing him and Gaetz on the office security footage, and Greenberg replying with confirmation that they had been there because he was “showing congressman Gaetz what our operation looked like.” That morning, the employee also discovered multiple driver’s licenses that should have been shredded after being surrendered had instead been removed from the disposal basket and left scattered on a desk.

The Occam’s Razor explanation, as alleged in the indictment against Greenberg, is that Greenberg was showing the congressman how he was able to create fake IDs that could be used to facilitate travel and partying with the young women.

If, hypothetically, someone wanted to travel with a 17-year-old girl for purposes of having sex with her, it would be a lot easier if she had an ID saying that she was a legal adult. And even for the girls who were 18 or 19, it’s a lot easier to get the party going if they have IDs saying they’re 21 and can drink alcohol.

Wednesday’s new report from ABC News says that “multiple sources familiar with the messages” described text messages that Gaetz sent to “a young woman, who at the time had received payments for sex from Gaetz’s then-close friend Joel Greenberg, to join him and others on a three-day trip to the Florida Keys in May 2017”:

In the alleged text messages described exclusively to ABC News, the then-freshman congressman appeared to message a woman, who ABC News is not identifying, asking if she would fly on a private plane to the Florida Keys for a trip with Gaetz, three other women, and one other man.

“Hey — any interest in flying on a private plane to the keys May 19-21?” Gaetz allegedly wrote to the woman, who was older than 21 at the time, according to multiple sources familiar with the messages.

Gaetz then allegedly said that the trip would feature “2 guys, 4 girls. A very high-quality adventurous group,” according to the messages, which have previously not been reported on.

The woman initially replied, “Yeah I’m in,” but later backed out, according to ABC News. The sources told the media outlet that a photo of the woman taking a selfie with Gaetz was handed over to House Ethics. ABC News also reviewed bank and Venmo records showing that Greenberg had made multiple payments to this woman, which their sources said were for her to have sex with Greenberg’s friends at parties.

The Department of Justice closed its investigation into Gaetz last year, and the House Ethics Committee reopened its own investigation at that point, having paused it to allow the DOJ to conclude their work.

A spokesperson for Gaetz denied he was involved, telling ABC News, “Rep. Gaetz has no knowledge of these activities by Mr. Greenberg and was not involved in them. Rep. Gaetz has never paid for sex. Rep. Gaetz does not know anything about the woman you’re referencing, though he takes thousands of selfies each year.”

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