Matt Gaetz tied to teen party, lashes out at House Ethics Committee over expected report , will not willingly cooperate with House investigation

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) issued a defiant statement on Thursday as the House Ethics Committee seemingly prepares to release a report into reported misconduct involving an underage girl.

In a letter to the House Ethics Committee, Gaetz said he would no longer cooperate willingly with their investigation and declared that "the fix is in."


"Your investigation into me has devolved into a political payback exercise, devoid of adequate due process, riddled with leaks, and now seeking deeply personal information that is no business of Congress," Gaetz wrote, and then accused the committee of releasing "public statements to cast me in a negative light."


Gaetz went on to address rumors that he engaged in sex with a minor and that he had taken illegal drugs.

While Gaetz unequivocally denied having sexual relations with an underage girl, he was more cagey when it came to answer questions about his past drug use.

"I have no used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States," he wrote. "I have not used 'illicit' drugs, which I consider to be drugs unlawful for medical or over-the-counter use everywhere in the United States."


He closed his letter by announcing he was cutting off further cooperation with the probe.

"I will no longer voluntarily participate in this regrettable abuse of the Committee," he said. "I understand that the Committee has issued, but not served, a subpoena for my testimony. I explicitly reserve all of my rights pursuant to the House Rules and the U.S. Constitution."

Gaetz was investigated by the United States Department of Justice over potential sex trafficking but was ultimately not charged criminally.

 

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Matt Gaetz tied to teen sex and drug party in new late night Florida filing​

With the November election looming just weeks away, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was once again tied to a party that included underage high school girls and drugs in a late-night filing made available to the public on Thursday.

According to a report from Jose Pagliery at NOTUS, the specter of a sex scandal has once again bloomed for the controversial Florida Republican at the same the time the GOP is reeling over another sex scandal involving North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson.

As Pagliery wrote, Gaetz is accused of attending "a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with the 17-year-old girl at the center of the alleged sex trafficking scandal" in a court filing in Florida posted just before midnight in Florida.


The NOTUS report states, "The minor, who was a junior in high school at the time, arrived in her mother’s car for a July 15, 2017 party at the Florida home of Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist and friend of Gaetz’s, according to a court filing written by defense attorneys who interviewed witnesses as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit Dorworth brought in 2023."

While Dorworth dropped his lawsuit, his lawyers listed the allegations in the filing as part of their efforts to recoup legal fees still due to them.

This could create more problems for the Florida Republican who is already at the center of a House Ethics Committee investigation looking into allegations of sexual misconduct.

As for the new filing, NOTUS is reporting, "One eye witness cited in the court filings, a young woman referred to as K.M., provided a sworn affidavit that claimed the teenage girl was naked, partygoers were there to 'engage in sexual activities,' and 'alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy… and marijuana' were present. The teenage girl was identified in the filings only as A.B," adding, "The defense lawyers filed testimonies from those three women — who the attorneys say placed Gaetz at Dorworth’s house that night — under seal pending a judge’s approval to make the records public."

"This marks the first time that sworn testimony has been referenced in public court filings alleging that the congressman attended one of the long-rumored parties tied to an alleged underage sex scandal," Pagliery added.

 

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From the Hometown Orlando Sentinel Newspaper​

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Witnesses: Matt Gaetz attended drug-fueled parties with 17 year old call girl at Seminole lobbyist’s home​

In the summer of 2017, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Panhandle Republican, attended a party filled with drugs and paid escorts that was hosted by former state Rep. Chris Dorworth at his Heathrow home, according to witness testimony in newly filed federal court documents.

One of the escorts attending the get-together was the 17-year-old girl — known only as A.B. in court filings — who is at the center of the Joel Greenberg sex-trafficking scandal. Call girls roamed the premises with “access to the bedrooms in the Dorworth residence to engage in sexual activities, as well as alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, also known as molly and marijuana,” according to statements quoted in the documents.


The case-file material, emerging as part of Dorworth’s April 2023 federal lawsuit against his former friend Greenberg, includes some of the most extensive details made public so far regarding a sex-trafficking controversy that has swirled around Gaetz for several years.

But while witnesses place him at the scene of illicit activity, the documents don’t include allegations or evidence that Gaetz himself used illegal drugs or had sex with the underage girl, a charge he has denied and federal investigators last year chose not to pursue. One document does quote the girl saying she had sex with Dorworth in exchange for $1,000, an allegation Dorworth, now a lobbyist, strongly disputed on Friday.

The tale told in the documents — primarily in a document submitted by Greenberg’s ex-wife that recounts evidence gathered as part of the suit — is lurid. It includes descriptions of two separate parties at Dorworth’s house a week apart, both attended by Gaetz although A.B. is only mentioned as attending the first one.


A.B. had just completed her junior year at a local high school and drove her mother’s car through the upscale community’s security entrance at about 6:15 p.m. on July 15, 2017, the date of the first party.

Upon arrival, attendees were told to put their cell phones into a large bowl on a counter, apparently to prevent photos and videos. As the party went on, A.B. was naked among the adult attendees, according to material in the document from Greenberg’s ex-wife Abby attributed to an affidavit from one of the escorts, identified as K.M.

Besides Gaetz, Dorworth and Greenberg also were at the party at the 8,200-square foot, six-bedroom home on Whitstable Court, according to K.M. Greenberg had taken office as Seminole’s tax collector just six months earlier.

Jacob Bliss, a spokesman for Gaetz office, said in a brief email to the Sentinel Friday that Gaetz “has never participated” in the alleged events.


“If people said otherwise, they are either confused or lying,” Bliss said.

Dorworth eventually dropped his federal lawsuit against Greenberg this month, without giving a reason.

But now, Greenberg’s family, and the other defendants are seeking to recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars spent in attorneys fees, court costs and other expenses defending themselves against Dorworth’s litigation. That led to the filing of hundreds of pages of documents Thursday night.

Other material collected as part of the case remains sealed, including an interview with A.B., although it is briefly excerpted in the material from Abby Greenberg. That excerpt quotes the underage girl as saying she “engaged in various sexual activities” with Dorworth in a hotel in Lake Mary in the summer of 2017 while Joel Greenberg watched. She also says that at the conclusion of the encounter, “Mr. Greenberg provided me with an envelope with one thousand dollars in cash and said to me ‘this is from Chris’ or words to that effect.”


Dorworth denied ever meeting the girl in a Friday text message interview with the Orlando Sentinel, and said again as he had previously that he did not have sex with her. He also said he did not attend the July 15 party at his home.

“I was not there that evening,” Dorworth said by text. “I was at a friend’s birthday party on a lake far away.”

Attorneys for the defendants in Dorworth’s federal lawsuit against Greenberg and his family and businesses, however, presented Dorworth with evidence that he received phone calls from a cell tower less than two miles from his Heathrow home to an area in Maitland several times in the afternoon on the day of the July 15 party. He then received calls even closer to his home that evening, according to court records.

A week later, on July 22, a second party allegedly was held at Dorworth’s home, according to lawsuit documents from another female escort identified as L.P.


L.P. said Gaetz and Greenberg again were in attendance, along with several other call girls and lobbyists. A.B. is not mentioned by L.P.

L.P. said she also was told to put her cell phone in a bowl on the counter when she walked into the home.

“It was my understanding that this was done because the partygoers did not want any photographs or videos taken of the event,” according to her testimony. “The party included alcohol, drugs, middle-aged men and young and attractive women.”

L.P. also makes no allegation that Gaetz used illegal drugs or had sex with the escorts.

The U.S. Department of Justice in February 2023 decided against pursuing sex-trafficking charges against Gaetz, whose House District 1 lies in the Florida Panhandle.

The decision came after the Washington Post reported that federal prosecutors had credibility concerns with witnesses, including Greenberg.


Still, a U.S. House Ethics Committee continues with its own investigation into whether Gaetz did have sex with A.B. when she was 17 years old.

Greenberg was a friend of Gaetz and Dorworth while he was Seminole County’s tax collector from January 2017 until June 2020, when he resigned after he was first indicted on several federal charges.

The trio were often seen at parties at Dorworth’s house and dining at restaurants in Orlando and Tallahassee.

In the spring of 2019, they all visited Washington D.C. with their families and took photos with then U.S. President Donald Trump on the White House lawn.

A.B. is now 25 years old and living in Colorado.

Greenberg is serving an 11-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to identity theft, stalking, conspiracy to bribe a public official and child sex trafficking, tied to A.B.

Link to Orlando Sentinel Article

MSN

 

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Matt Gaetz says he'll no longer voluntarily cooperate with a House Ethics probe into his conduct, calling the committee's questions about his sex life and potential drug use "uncomfortably nosey."

POLITICO (@politico) on Threads

Matt Gaetz says he'll no longer voluntarily cooperate with a House Ethics probe into his conduct, calling the committee's questions about his sex life and potential drug use "uncomfortably nosey."

www.threads.net

 

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Matt Gaetz Slams Ethics Committee Investigation: ‘This Is Soviet’​

Rep. Matt Gaetz isn’t happy that the House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and used illegal drugs—going as far as to describe the probe as “Soviet.”

Gaetz, a Florida congressman and close Donald Trump ally, took to X on Thursday to make the far-fetched historical comparison after learning that the committee intended to subpoena him. He shared an indignant letter addressed to the committee’s leaders, Rep. Michael Guest and Rep. Susan Wild.

“Your investigation into me has devolved into a political payback exercise, devoid of adequate due process, riddled with leaks, and now seeking deeply personal information that is no business of Congress,” Gaetz wrote.

“I am being investigated and judged by my political opponents,” he added. “This is Soviet.”


Gaetz is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, and in the letter he denied this claim outright.

However, his denial of the illegal-drug-use claim was somewhat more nuanced.

“I have not used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States,” he wrote. “I have not used ‘illicit’ drugs, which I consider to be drugs unlawful for medical or over-the-counter use everywhere in the United States.”

He also said the panel’s questions were “uncomfortably nosey” because they asked about “the lawful, consensual, sexual activities of adults,” which “are not the business of Congress.”

As a result of the perceived injustices, Gaetz declared in the letter that he will “no longer voluntarily participate” in the House’s probe.

The probe began after Gaetz’s friend Joel Greenberg went to prison for sex trafficking, and several of the women who testified in the case said Greenberg had paid minors to attend sex parties at which Gaetz was present.

Gaetz has previously denied allegations of engaging in sex trafficking or having sex with a minor. A DOJ probe ended in 2023 without charges being brought against the congressman.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1839341409582846196

 

[cowboyinexile]

I thought that dude was pro Russia

 

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"I'm not making any claims, I'm just saying somebody's sitting in jail for 11 years that was with him. They just had depositions that came out days before where a girl who is a junior in high school dropped off by her mother to a party with drugs and sex."

Kevin McCarthy uses CNN appearance to drag up new Matt Gaetz sex scandal details

Former House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) took advantage of an appearance on CNN's "Inside Politics" on Sunday morning to take a shot at Rep. Matt Gaetz and bring up new allegations the Florida Republican has been accused of attending drug and sex parties with teenage girls by the young lady's...

www.rawstory.com