One other day, one other allegation towards would-be lawyer common Matt Gaetz that might have been disqualifying in some other administration, however could turn into nothing greater than a blip on the highway to working the Justice Division beneath Donald Trump.
On this case, these allegations come from lawyer Joel Leppard, who represents two ladies who supplied closed-door testimony to the Home Ethics Committee regarding Gaetz that was reportedly set to be revealed by the congressional panel earlier than the GOP congressman was nominated by Trump and resigned from the Home. Talking to ABC News, Leppard said his shoppers instructed the Home committee, which was investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and different allegations of unethical conduct, that the longtime Trump ally paid for them to journey to New York Metropolis and have intercourse with him on at the least two events, together with in January 2019, once they watched him seem on an episode of the Fox Information present Outnumbered, after which attended a manufacturing of Fairly Lady, a.ok.a. probably the most well-known story of a girl being paid in alternate for intercourse.
“[The women] testified that they met up with Matt Gaetz in New York in January of 2019 for his look on Fox Information,” Leppard instructed ABC. “Gaetz paid them for the tickets to come back to New York for the journey. They have been requested to go and have intercourse with Rep. Gaetz, after which they might exit and see a present that they needed to see that night time. So basically, deal with issues, after which in a while, they might have their enjoyable…. Each of my shoppers testified that they’d intercourse with Rep. Gaetz and that the funds they acquired from him have been partially for sexual favors.”
Leppard additionally instructed ABC Information that his shoppers knowledgeable the Ethics Committee that Gaetz allegedly had intercourse with them on 10–15 events, primarily at “drug-fueled events” and have been financially compensated “on many events by the congressman.” In a separate interview with CBS Information on Monday, Leppard instructed reporter Main Garrett, that one among his shoppers instructed the committee that she allegedly noticed Gaetz have intercourse with a 17-year-old in July 2017, six months after he was sworn in as a congressman.
Gaetz has lengthy denied any and all wrongdoing. In an announcement, a spokesperson for the Trump transition workforce instructed ABC Information: “These are baseless allegations supposed to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Division investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.”
