An attorney representing two women who accused Matt Gaetz of sexual misconduct said that both women told the House Ethics Committee that the former congressman paid them for sex.
In an interview on Monday, Joel Leppard responded “that’s correct” when asked by ABC News‘ Juju Chang if “both of your clients testified that they were paid by Representative Gaetz to have sex?”
“The House was very clear about that and went through each. They essentially put the Venmo payments on the screen and asked about them. And my clients repeatedly testified, ‘What was this payment for?’ ‘That was for sex,’” Leppard said.
Leppard previously said that one of his clients also saw Gaetz having sex with a 17 year old at a house party in Florida.
“She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,” Leppard said.
The House Ethnic Committee was investigating allegations of sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by Gaetz. But the lawmaker resigned from Congress last week shortly after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for the role of attorney general in his second administration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have signalled he is willing to bury the Ethics report on Gaetz arguing that it would be unprecedented to release the report since Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress.
Gaetz has denied the allegations and the Trump transition team is doubling down on his nomination to lead the Department of Justice.
“Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system,” Trump transition spokesperson told ABC News.
“These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration,” the spokesperson continued. “The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing. The only people who went to prison over these allegations were those lying about Matt Gaetz.”
The Justice Department’s investigation over alleged sex trafficking of underage girls by Gaetz ended with no federal charges brought against him.
