Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Called on fellow Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz to resign Thursday night amid a federal investigation into allegations that Gaetz was involved in sex trafficking.
Gaetz, who is not charged with any crime, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He also plans to host a dinner for the Women for America First group at the Trump National Doral in Florida on Friday.
“Matt Gaetz must resign,” Kinzinger wrote in a tweet referring to a Daily Beast story about Gaetz, who became entangled in an investigation into former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg.
Greenberg was charged with 33 counts in federal court in Florida, including harassment, wire fraud and sex trafficking in minors. Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller, and federal prosecutors said during a brief hearing in Orlando in Orlando’s case on Thursday that the judge says they expect him to conclude a plea agreement.
The parties did not say whether Greenberg was expected to cooperate in the investigation into Gaetz, who denied any wrongdoing. “I’m sure Matt Gaetz does not feel very comfortable today,” Scheller said after the trial outside court.
Federal investigators are investigating whether Gaetz paid women to travel to the Bahamas for sex, NBC News reported Wednesday night. In a statement to CBS in response to reports of the Bahamas investigation, a Gaetz spokesman denied ever paying for sex, calling it “a general holiday fishing exercise and consensus relations with adults.”
Investigators are also investigating whether Gaetz and Greenberg used the internet to search for women who could pay them for sex. The New York Times reported that he is being investigated for the trafficking of a 17-year-old.
Gaetz wrote in an open-ended Washington Examiner on Monday: “Since it’s my turn, let me address the allegations against me directly. First, I have never ever paid for sex. I, as a grown man, did not sleep with a 17 year old. ‘
Former President Donald Trump’s close ally also pledged not to resign, saying the “bizarre demands” were retaliated against him for challenging the “most powerful institutions in the Beltway.”
The women’s group for Trump that enchanted the legislature will address Friday night tweeted earlier this week that Gaetz, “was a fearless leader in DC. Few members of Congress were more willing than Matt to stand up and fight on behalf of President Trump and his America First Agenda.”
Kinzinger, who was one of nine Republicans who voted to accuse Trump after the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol and had previously clashed with Gaetz, said the tweet from Women for America First.Our politics are broken. “
