More trouble for Matt Gaetz as his tax collector associate Joel Greenberg starts 'cooperating' with the feds in sex trafficking probe and prepares to take a plea deal
Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate is cooperating with the feds and will likely take a plea deal, which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican.
CNN reported from court Thursday that Joel Greenberg's lawyers and prosecutors told the judge that a plea deal was in the works and could be finalized within weeks.
With Greenberg cooperating with the Justice Department, prosecutors may be able to determine if Gaetz broke any sex trafficking or prostitution laws.
Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller told reporters outside the hearing, 'I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.'
Scheller was also asked if Greenberg introduced Gaetz to any underage girls for sexual relations.
'I apologize, I just can't answer that question,' Greenberg's attorney said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate is cooperating with the feds and will likely take a plea deal, which will put more legal pressure on the embattled Florida Republican
Lawyers for Joel Greenberg (pictured) and prosecutors told a judge Thursday that Greenberg was cooperating with the Justice Department and they were working on a plea deal
CNN's Paula Reid captured Joel Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller outside the courthouse Thursday
Greenberg is the ex-tax commissioner of Seminole County, Florida and has been charged with 33 counts ranging from sex trafficking of a minor to identity theft.
Gaetz, a third-term congressman from Florida, has not been charged with a crime, and he has vehemently denied the various accusations against him, among them that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, as a 'lie.'
But the unsettling panoply of allegations - including that he may have broken federal sex trafficking laws and been involved in a scheme to recruit and pay women for sex - has put the 38-year-old conservative's political future in doubt just as he was being seen as an increasingly potent force in the Republican Party.
On Wednesday, CBS News reported that the feds were investigating a trip the Florida congressman took to the Bahamas with a marijuana entrepreneur in late 2018 or early 2019.
Gaetz reportedly traveled with Dr. Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and co-founder of The American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association.
Pirozzolo paid for the travel and accomodations and also for female escorts, according to the report.
Investigators are probing whether the escorts were trafficked across state or international lines for the purpose of having sexual relations with the congressman.
'Traveling across state lines is what creates a federal hook for a prosecution,' Arlo Devlin-Brown, a former prosecutor and partner at Covington & Burling, told CBS.
'It doesn't matter that [Gaetz] personally paid them as long as he knows someone is doing that,' he added.
Investigators are also looking into whether Gaetz was trading political access for the sexual rendezvous.
The New York Times - which last week broke the story that the DOJ was investigating Gaetz - also reported Wednesday that the congressman had sought a blanket pardon from the White House in the waning weeks of Trump's presidency.
Trump had grown fond of Gaetz, a lawmaker who offered fierce loyalty to the president throughout his four-year term.
But a Gaetz pardon never came.
With the scandal mushrooming, Trump himself weighed in on Wednesday.
'Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon,' the 45th president said. 'It must also be remembered that he has totally denied the accusations against him.'
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, last week acknowledged the allegations were 'serious' and could lead to severe repercussions, but said he wanted to see more of the facts.
Joel Greenberg (right) is photographed hanging out with Rep. Matt Gaetz (center) and former President Donald Trump's longtime political adviser Roger Stone (left) in a post from Gaetz's Facebook account from 2017
Joel Greenberg was captured leaving the federal courthouse in Orlando in June 2020 after making his first court appearance
'If it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him,' McCarthy told Fox News.
Gaetz has pushed back forcefully against the allegations and sought to divert attention from the DOJ investigation by insisting he and his family have been victims of an extortion scheme.
He says two men, including former Air Force officer Robert Kent, approached Gaetz's father seeking $25 million to fund their bid to locate and free American Robert Levinson, who disappeared 14 years ago in Iran.
Kent acknowledged texting the congressman's father Don Gaetz, a former Florida Senate president, telling him he knew of an 'indictment' soon to be filed against his son, and that 'I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away.'
Speaking to CNN, Kent said mentioning Gaetz's legal trouble was merely a 'teaser,' and he explained to the father 'that this was not an extortion attempt,' but a legitimate offer to help rescue Levinson while potentially showing Representative Gaetz in a positive light.
Levinson's family said in 2020 that US officials had told them that the ex-FBI agent had died while in Iranian custody.
Brash and combative, Gaetz has taken controversial steps in Congress, wearing a gas mask on the House floor last year during a vote on an early coronavirus response package.
In 2019 he delayed impeachment proceedings against Trump when he led dozens of Republican lawmakers who burst into closed-door witness depositions and refused to leave for several hours.
And in January Gaetz traveled to Wyoming to help stir up opposition to senior congresswoman Liz Cheney, one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.
He had volunteered to leave Congress and defend the ex-president during Trump's second Senate impeachment trial, over the January 6 MAGA riot.
Salacious details of Gaetz's behavior have emerged.
According to CNN, Gaetz bragged about his sexual escapades to fellow lawmakers, showing them nude photographs of women he claimed to have slept with.
Gaetz has dug in, penning a column in Monday's Washington Examiner.
'The swamp is out to drown me with false charges, but I'm not giving up,' he wrote.
On Thursday, his office sent out a press release signed by the 'women of the office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz,' who said they felt 'morally obligated' to speak out.
'At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect,' the release said.
And earlier this week another ex-staffer came held a press conference in Florida, defending the congressman after speaking with the FBI.
But the DOJ investigation - which was launched while Trump was still in office and not by Gaetz's political opponents - could halt the ambitious Republican's rise.
It centers on Gaetz and Greenberg, who was indicted last year on a federal child sex trafficking charge.
According to the Times, people close to the investigation said they believe Greenberg met women through websites and introduced them to Gaetz, who had sex with them.
The DOJ is also investigating whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old.
Most Republicans meanwhile have withheld comment on Gaetz's scandal.
He is scheduled to speak Friday at the Trump National Doral Miami, during the 'Save America Summit' sponsored by a pro-Trump women's group.
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