Another top assistant from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has resigned, a person familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast on Thursday.
Devin Murphy, who served as Gaetz’s legislative director at Capitol Hill, officially got stuck on Friday as the scandal surrounding a federal investigation into Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct continued. The Daily Beast reported Thursday night that Gaetz had $ 900 in May 2018 to his friend and alleged child sex trader Joel Greenberg. Greenberg then paid the same amount to three women, one of whom turned 18 in just five months. before.
Murphy’s resignation was first reported by The New York Times. According to the TimesMurphy confided in co-workers that he was not interested in being caught in a “TMZ” environment.
Murphy did not respond to The Daily Beast’s repeated requests for comment on Thursday. Gaetz also did not immediately respond.
According to Legistorm, the unofficial online convention guide, Murphy has been working for Gaetz since February 2017, almost immediately after Donald Trump’s top ally stepped down on Capitol Hill. He started in the office as a junior legislative assistant and was promoted to legislative director in December 2018. Murphy’s LinkedIn page does not mention which member of Congress he worked for – it is simply listed as “American House of Representatives” – but indicated that work would end in April 2021. His other service dates are similar to those on Legistorm.
Murphy is the second Gaetz staff member to leave office since The New York Times reported on March 31 that the congressman was being scrutinized by federal investigators as to whether he was paying underage girls for sex, among other things. His communications director, Luke Ball, resigned last week. A statement from Gaetz’s office said the two parties agreed that “it is best to separate.”
The departure contributes to a difficult day for the congressman. On Thursday, Gaetz’s partner Joel Greenberg – his friend and political ally who is his liaison with young women and girls – appeared in court in Florida, allegedly ready to enter into a plea deal with the federal parties and work together on their Gaetz investigation. “I’m sure Matt Gaetz does not feel very comfortable today,” Greenberg’s lawyer told reporters in Orlando.
Shortly afterwards, the congressman issued a statement signed by the women in his office to confirm his character, although only one, his chief of staff, attached her name.
The congressman also resisted calls to resign because he insisted that the claims against underage sex and sex trafficking against him were untrue and used to blackmail him and his family.
And his two former assistants are not the only ones close to Gaetz (or even close) who distance themselves from the MAGA icon. As The Daily Beast reported late last week, former President Trump – no stranger to standing up for friends or himself, when accused of sexual misconduct or assault – has been privately warned by several advisers to keep his mouth shut about the Gaetz scandal. if possible. For the time being, the two accused former president has complied almost entirely with their pleas.
“For something like that, a ten-foot pole is not long enough,” said Barry Bennett, a longtime Republican operator and lobbyist who advised Trump during his 2016 run. “The former president should stay away from this as far as possible.”