Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend testifies to grand jury in sex trafficking probe
The development suggests the Department of Justice may be moving closer to indicting the Florida Republican.
Clock is ticking for Republican's heroic leader Matt Gaetz. Let's Go, Jeffrey and Matt! This is the girl Matt took to dinner with Tucker Carlson and wife.
Jan. 12, 2022
By Marc Caputo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified Wednesday before a federal grand jury investigating him for sex crimes, a major development that suggests the Department of Justice may be moving closer to indicting him.
The ex-girlfriend, whose name is being withheld by NBC News to respect her privacy, has been in talks for months with prosecutors about an immunity deal. Under a possible deal, she would avoid prosecution for obstruction of justice in return for testifying in the investigation into whether Gaetz in 2017 had sex with a 17-year-old female for money and whether months later he and others violated a federal law prohibiting people for paying for prostitutes overseas.
Legal sources familiar with the case say Gaetz is being investigated for three distinct crimes: sex trafficking the 17-year-old; violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution; and obstructing justice.
Gaetz, R-Fla., has not been charged with a crime and has denied all accusations, saying he never paid for sex and never had sex with a minor when he was an adult. The firebrand conservative has called the federal investigation into him a DOJ “witch hunt.”
The attorney for Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, Tim Jansen, declined comment about the case Wednesday, when he was spotted by an NBC News reporter entering the federal courthouse in Orlando with his client. A Department of Justice spokesman declined comment. Gaetz did not respond to a request for comment.
The investigation into Gaetz has lasted for more than a year and began when a former friend and ally of his, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, was charged with a host of crimes — from falsely smearing a political rival as being a pedophile to cheating taxpayers in a cryptocurrency scheme to sex-trafficking the same 17-year-old in the Gaetz investigation.
Greenberg has agreed to plead guilty to six of the charges against him and is cooperating with federal investigators, NBC News has previously reported.
He has pleaded guilty to charges of identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official and sex trafficking of a minor.
According to one source familiar with the case, the alleged sex-trafficking victim told investigators at one point that Gaetz had sex with her.
But the investigation into Gaetz was stalled as prosecutors sought the cooperation of Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, according to those familiar with the case, because her testimony could help fill in crucial aspects of the case.
The ex-girlfriend was in an open relationship with Gaetz in 2017 and 2018 and allegedly discussed other women he was involved with, according to three friends of the former couple. She allegedly went with Gaetz and a number of other young women and friends of the congressman in 2018 on a trip to the Bahamas, a trip that is also under scrutiny, CBS News and Politico previously reported.
After the investigation began, Gaetz spoke with his ex-girlfriend in a three-way call with yet another woman who was cooperating with federal investigators at that point and was secretly recording the call, according to two sources familiar with the case.
It’s on that call that Gaetz is suspected of obstructing justice, which federal prosecutors are investigating, according to law enforcement sources.
After that phone call was first reported in April, Gaetz denied the allegations through a spokesperson.
“Congressman Gaetz pursues justice, he doesn’t obstruct it," the spokesperson said in a statement.
Jansen, the ex-girlfriend’s attorney, has a reputation in Florida legal circles as a master of immunity deals after he secured one for an admitted murderer who ultimately was not charged in return for helping authorities solve the case.
nbcnews.com
Tucker Carlson STUNNED After Matt Gaetz Implicates Him Live On Air
By
Farron Cousins
March 31, 2021
Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz was given the opportunity to go on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News program Tuesday evening to discuss the allegations against him, and that’s a move that Tucker likely already regrets. During the “weird” interview, as Tucker put it, Gaetz somehow managed to implicate Tucker by discussing a dinner they had where Gaetz brought “a girl” with him that he says was then threatened by the FBI. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses the latest details of this case.
Transcript:
*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.
So last night, Tucker Carlson invited Matt Gaetz onto his program to help clear the air about the New York Times bombshell story about Matt Gaetz being investigated by the department of justice for possibly having sexual relations with a minor, essentially, and also traveling her across state lines and engaging in sexual activities with her there. So that would also qualify by definition as human trafficking. So Gaetz is in a lot of trouble and this investigation as we discussed last night, was started under Donald Trump’s DOJ, the Republican controlled department of justice, and it actually stemmed from an investigation into another Florida Republican Joel Greenberg, who was taken down for similar activities. So anyway, Gaetz goes on Tucker Carlson and Tucker Carlson is forced to sit there stone faced, not just through Gaetz’s ridiculous claims about what’s actually happening, but also as Gaetz seemed to implicate Tucker in the whole scheme. Here’s that clip.
Matt Gaetz: Again, I only know what I’ve read in the New York Times. I can say, that actually you and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there and I brought a friend of mine. You’ll remember her. And she was actually threatened by the FBI, told that if she wouldn’t cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay for play scheme, that she could face trouble. And so I do believe that there are people at the department of justice who are trying to smear me.
Tucker Carlson: I, I don’t remember the, the woman you’re speaking of or the context at all, honestly. But I…
Love that. Tucker’s just sitting there like, did you really, did you really, really just tell the whole world that I went to dinner with you and this and this woman that is now in the FBI investigation? Now you got me and then, okay. Interview ends Tucker goes to break and when Tucker comes back, he admits that that was one of the weirdest interviews he’s ever done. Take a look at what happened during the little return that Tucker did here.
Tucker Carlson: If you just saw our Matt Gates interview, that was one of the weirdest interviews I’ve ever conducted. That story just appeared in the news a couple of hours ago and on the certainty that there’s always more than you read in the newspaper, we immediately called Matt Gaetz and asked him to come on and tell us more.
I’m sure it was weird. I’m sure it was weird to be implicated as at least a witness to some of Matt Gaetz activities here. So, so it is what it is. So Matt Gaetz has now offered multiple different explanations, by the way, as to why he’s under investigation. First, he had said that, hey look, yeah, he had given an ex-girlfriend some money and that’s what the FBI is investigating. Then of course it ballooned into this, no, my family is being extorted for $25 million. My dad was told to wear a wire. It’s, it’s crazy. They’re out to get us. We’ve, we’ve told the FBI it’s this rogue DOJ person trying to take us down. It’s deep state type stuff. And everybody’s like, yeah, dude, no, it’s not a partisan investigation. This actually was begun, was started under Donald Trump’s DOJ, under William Barr’s DOJ, dude.
Like you can’t make crap up like that. Not to mention the fact that if the FBI had in fact told your father, wear a wire, so you can get the extortionists, you know, on tape, you wouldn’t admit that publicly because that would ruin the FBI’s chances of getting this person on tape. You idiot. I mean, good God. Like this guy is so bad at crime. That’s why he always gets busted. That’s why the history of DUIs is out there because this guy is really, really bad at doing crime, but apparently he just can’t help himself now, can he? So multiple different defenses out there. He has now roped Tucker Carlson in as at least a witness. This story is going to get a lot weirder. Matt Gaetz is going to get a lot more desperate and it’s going to be one wild ride from start to finish.
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