Politics
Two women sue former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz over alleged sex trafficking
A federal lawsuit filed in Orlando accuses Matt Gaetz and others of sexually exploiting two women in 2017. Gaetz denies the allegations and says the case draws heavily on a congressional report he was not allowed to challenge.
Two women have sued former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, alleging he and other men sexually exploited them in violation of federal anti-trafficking law. The complaint was filed Thursday in federal court in Orlando and also names former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, another man and businesses connected to Greenberg’s family.
The women say they were in their early 20s in 2017 when they met Gaetz through Greenberg. The lawsuit alleges Gaetz supplied drugs and paid for sex, travel outside Florida, lodging and other expenses.
“Much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz said in a statement. He said the case relies almost entirely on a House Ethics Committee report and argued that the committee did not give him the chance to confront his accusers. “Now I will finally have that chance,” he said.
Gaetz also posted on X about the women, sharing a 2018 photo of three women facing the ocean in the Bahamas and writing that he was “shocked nobody responded to their repeated cries for help, posted to instagram.”
The lawsuit describes an imbalance of power between the women and the men they accuse. Their attorney, Spencer Kuvin, said the men had public positions, homes and money, while the women were young and financially vulnerable.
The suit comes after a House Ethics Committee report said Gaetz had regularly paid for sex, including on one occasion with a 17-year-old, used and purchased illicit drugs, and violated state laws while in Congress. Gaetz left office before the report was released and denied wrongdoing. The findings also helped derail his nomination to serve as attorney general in President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Gaetz now hosts a political talk show on One America News Network. He was also recently appointed to the board of Triumph Gulf Coast, the state entity that oversees funds recovered for damage from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.