The Republican former congressman Matt Gaetz has been accused of participating in the sex trafficking of two young women in a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday in district court in Florida.
The allegations, which Gaetz denied in a statement to the Guardian, are the latest developments in a long-running sexual abuse scandal involving the politician who resigned from Congress in November 2024.
In the 38-page lawsuit, filed in US district court for the middle district of Florida, the women identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 claim Gaetz and two others “coordinated the recruitment, payments, drugs, and travel to obtain commercial sexual acts” from them “during 2017 through January 2019”.
“The defendants collectively used their public office, power, and wealth to prey on the economic vulnerability of Plaintiffs to commit the acts,” according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit contends that the alleged victims “were recent high school graduates” at the time of the alleged misconduct.
One of the defendants, Joel Micah Greenberg, a close associate of Gaetz, and the former tax collector of Seminole county, pleaded guilty in May 2021 to six federal offenses: sex trafficking of a child, illegally producing a false identification document, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, stalking, and conspiracy. Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
Gaetz rejected the new lawsuit’s allegations in a statement to the Guardian.
“This is somehow a co-conspiracy from the deep state and transgender people.”
-Matt Gaetz, any day now.
Devil’s advocate: that phrase is entirely reasonable as a profession of innocence. Claiming “all of the conduct”, even if you’re totally innocent of the bad conduct being alleged, is opening yourself up to be contradicted unless literally every part of their story is categorically false and you know it.
Like if it’s alleged you went to Georgia, rented Liar, Liar on DVD, murdered 15 puppies, then watched Liar, Liar while eating Waffle House takeout, got drunk the next morning, and got into a collision, then you say “all of the conduct alleged against me is false”, well sure you didn’t kill the puppies, get drunk, and get in a DUI car crash – you’re not a monster – but they definitely have the security tapes and the receipt showing you rented Liar, Liar at a Georgia Blockbuster, part of the conduct alleged against you.
“Much of” is basic CYA. (Of course in Gaetz’s non-innocent case, this is meant to put the goalposts on wheels for how much “much of” meant. But it’d still be reasonable for an innocent person.)