Friday 23 September 2022 04:56 PM Matt Gaetz 'unlikely' to face charges for 'sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl' trends now
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is unlikely to face charges for allegedly trafficking a 17-year-old girl because of advice from career prosecutors and credibility issues with a witness, a report Friday said.
Sources told the Washington Post that Department of Justice superiors have been advised against moving the case forward.
The allegations claim from an investigation that began in 2020 over claims Gaetz, now 40, was involved with a 17-year-old girl years earlier and paid for sex.
Investigators zoned in on a trip to the Bahamas in 2018 where Gaetz was with several women, and were looking to determine whether he violated trafficking laws.
Married Gatez insists it never happened and the only time he had sex with a 17-year-old girl was when he was 17.
He has dismissed the investigation as a 'witch hunt' and his lawyers have said they have seen 'no credible basis' for charges.
More evidence could emerge in the case but it is rare for such advice from within the Department of Justice to be rejected, the Post added in the report.
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is unlikely to face charges for allegedly trafficking a 17-year-old girl because of advice from career prosecutors and credibility issues with a witness, a report Friday said
The existence of the investigation first became public last March, when The New York Times reported that investigators were examining whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old in 2019 and paid for her to travel with him.
The inquiry had been underway for several months before it became public.
Gaetz first came to investigators' attention because of his his friendship with a former Florida tax collector, Joel Greenberg, described as his 'wingman', who last year pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and sexual offenses.
Greenberg told investigators that Gaetz and at least two other men had sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl.
He has told them that they both gave women cash and gifts in exchange for sex.
Greenberg pleaded guilty to identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official and sex trafficking of a minor.
Prosecutors always must weigh potential credibility issues when relying on witnesses who received plea deals.
In Greenberg's guilty pleas last year, prosecutors indicated they might recommend shorter sentencing below the minimum in exchange for 'substantial assistance' in other cases.
A Gaetz spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Congressman Matt Gaetz told a former White House aide that he had asked then-President Donald Trump for a pardon after being investigated for sex trafficking, it is claimed.
The Florida Representative is currently being investigated in a federal sex trafficking probe involving a 17-year-old girl.
The teenager claims Gaetz paid her to travel across the state line to have sex with him, and the congressman was investigated after a close friend was convicted of similar charges.
He has denied the sex-trafficking allegations against him, and no charges have been filed against him.
Johnny
