Two ladies testified earlier than the Home Ethics Committee that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) paid them for intercourse, an legal professional revealed to ABC News on Monday.
Florida legal professional Joel Leppard informed the community that his two shoppers have been “very clear” to the committee that Gaetz, now President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. legal professional common, paid them for intercourse and shared proof of Venmo funds he made to them.
The remarks from Leppard come a number of days after he informed media outlets that a type of shoppers additionally testified that she witnessed Gaetz, now 42, having intercourse along with her 17-year-old good friend at a celebration seven years in the past.
“She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this home get together, she was strolling out to the pool space, and he or she appeared to her proper, and he or she noticed Rep. Gaetz having intercourse along with her good friend, who was 17,” he reiterated to ABC News on Monday.
Gaetz had been sworn in as a member of Congress earlier that 12 months.
“Her understanding was that Matt Gaetz didn’t know that she was a minor and that when he realized that she was a minor, that he broke off issues and didn’t proceed a sexual relationship till she turned 18,” Leppard continued.
Leppard’s claims come because the committee weighs releasing its ethics report on Gaetz, whom the committee has been investigating over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. When Gaetz resigned from the Home final week, saying he was doing so to permit his substitute to be picked in time for the subsequent Congress, the committee was pressured to stop its investigation two days earlier than a scheduled vote on releasing its report.
A consultant of Gaetz deferred remark to Trump transition staff spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer, who denied the legal professional’s accusations.
“These are baseless allegations meant to derail the second Trump administration,” the assertion learn partially.
Leppard joined a number of high lawmakers in calling for the Home Ethics Committee to launch its report on Gaetz, despite the fact that he’s now not in workplace. Regardless of protestations from Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), there may be precedent for releasing ethics stories in such circumstances.
“Because the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz’s nomination for legal professional common, a number of questions demand solutions,” Leppard stated. “What if a number of credible witnesses offered proof of conduct that might represent severe legal violations?”
The ethics committee plans to satisfy Wednesday to debate its Gaetz report, a number of information shops reported.
