ORLANDO, Fla. — An ex-girlfriend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz appeared Wednesday at the federal courthouse in downtown Orlando, reportedly in order to testify before a grand jury that is weighing potential sex trafficking charges against him.
Reports by CNN and NBC News indicated the grand jury has been meeting in Orlando to consider potential charges against Gaetz as part of a long-running investigation that emerged from the prosecution of his onetime friend and ally, Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector.
The NBC report said the participation of his ex-girlfriend, long described as a potential key witness, represented “a major development that suggests the Department of Justice may be moving closer to indicting” the third-term GOP congressman.
Timothy Jansen, an attorney representing Gaetz’s former girlfriend, emerged from the courthouse just before 4 p.m. but declined to confirm his client was there to testify or comment on what she may have told grand jurors.
“We are here at the courthouse with my client. We have no comment,” he said. “My client has no comment about the proceedings or what’s happening today.”
Gaetz, a conservative firebrand and prominent supporter of former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Greenberg was indicted and resigned from office in June 2020. He has since pleaded guilty to six federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a child, and is cooperating with federal authorities in a sprawling investigation.
In his plea agreement, Greenberg admitted to paying more than $70,000 over two years to women — and a 17-year-old girl — for sex.
The agreement said Greenberg first found the teen through a website for so-called “sugar babies,” paying her $400 for an initial meeting on his boat, then another $400 to meet at an area hotel where they had sex.
After that, Greenberg admitted he would invite the minor and others to have sex at hotels around Central Florida, often supplying the girl and other attendees with the drug ecstasy. Greenberg also admitted that he introduced the girl to adult men who had sex with her.
The men weren’t identified in the plea agreement, but reports have long indicated that Gaetz is among those suspected by authorities to have had sex with the teenager. He has denied that allegation, insisting he has never paid for sex or had sex with anyone underage as an adult.
“When I became aware of some of Greenberg’s misdeeds, I deeply regretted my friendship with him,” Gaetz said in an October interview with ABC 3 News in Pensacola.
Citing sources familiar with the case, NBC News reported Wednesday that Gaetz is being investigated for three crimes: sex trafficking, obstructing justice and violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for the purposes of prostitution.
According to an April report by Politico, Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, who reportedly is a former congressional staffer, was present on a September 2018 trip to The Bahamas that is being scrutinized by federal investigators for potential Mann Act violations.
The sex trafficking victim, who by that time was legally an adult, was also reportedly on the trip, as were then-state Rep. Halsey Beshears and Jason Pirozzolo, an Orlando hand doctor and medical marijuana investor who allegedly paid for travel expenses and female escorts.
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