The party-goers, sometimes dressed in formal attire of a political event they had just left, mingled and shared drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. Some had sex.
Gaetz, the staunch Republican, liked to discuss politics, one of the women said. He behaved like a ‘frat-type party boy’, she said, and sometimes took pills that she said were recreational drugs.
Details of the parties, which have not been reported before, were described to CNN by two women who have attended several of them over the past few years. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
After some parties, money would change hands. According to receipts checked by CNN, Gaetz and his associate Joel Greenberg, a former provincial tax commissioner who was indicted on several federal charges last year, used digital payment applications to send hundreds of dollars to at least one woman who attended the parties.
The receipts viewed by CNN record payments that occurred between 2018 and 2019 and contain at least one that was indicated on a label that it would reimburse for travel.
One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after some of the parties. She said some payments were for providing sex, but declined to say who she slept with. She did say that she never received money directly from Gaetz.
Some of the parties were more sophisticated matters, the other woman said. Some took place in hotel suites at the end of alcohol-filled political functions.
“No one ever wants to stop partying, stop drinking once you’ve had a few glasses of champagne in you,” she said.
A Gaetz spokesman did not respond directly to CNN’s request for comment, but disputed the use of anonymous sources.
According to people familiar with the investigation, authorities spoke to the women involved in the congressman and his good friend Greenberg, the former tax commissioner in Seminole County, Florida, who is currently facing 33 federal charges, including sex trafficking. with a minor.
One of the women who spoke to CNN said she did it in part because the picture of Gaetz that may have been related to sex trafficking over the past few days is not in line with what she saw. Both women said they had never seen anyone at the parties who was a minor. They also did not speak to federal investigators.
Gaetz denied ever paying for sex and has been trying for the past two weeks to institute the allegations against him because of political prejudice in the legal system and the media.
He also accused investigators of distorting his generosity towards women in something criminal.
“Providing flights and hotel rooms to people you’re going out with and who are legal is not a crime,” Gaetz said in an interview with Fox News late last month.
The New York Times first reported that Gaetz made digital payments to women, and last Thursday, The Daily Beast also reported on Venmo deals between Gaetz and Greenberg, and Greenberg and young women.
Last week, Greenberg’s attorney and a federal prosecutor told a judge that Greenberg was likely to conclude a plea deal in the coming weeks and possibly give the Justice Department access to a witness with intimate knowledge of Gaetz’s possible offenses.
Fritz Scheller, Greenberg’s lawyer, spoke to reporters after the Thursday hearing last week and did not want to say whether his client would be willing to cooperate as part of the possible plea agreement, and that he would not disclose if Greenberg had already prosecutors met to describe what he does not know. about Gaetz.
However, he added that his client is ‘uniquely located’.
“I’m sure Matt Gaetz does not feel very comfortable today,” Scheller said.
Scheller declined to comment on CNN for this story.
The investigation into Gaetz began in the last months of the Trump-era Department of Justice under then-Attorney General William Barr and was initially part of a broader investigation into allegations of trade over Greenberg.
As part of the ongoing investigation, investigators are investigating Gaetz’s connections with several Florida associates who may have benefited politically in return for giving Congressman favors, including guidance, travel and campaign donations, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
One event in focus is a trip Gaetz undertook with friends and young women to the Bahamas, CNN reported. Investigators want to determine whether Gaetz traveled and provided women in exchange for political favors as part of their broader investigation, the sources said.
Over the past few days, a number of allies have been drawn into the scandal. Chris Dorworth, a former lawmaker who described Gaetz as a friend and ‘legislative mentor’, stepped down from a strong lobbying operation on Friday, one day after The New York Times reported that he had spoken to Gaetz about a candidate from to host third parties in a local election – in violation of campaign finance laws.
“The current political environment is nasty, and I told Brian I do not think it’s fair that the recent media storm takes away their missions,” Dorworth wrote on Twitter, referring to Brian Ballard, the founder of the Florida lobby group. with close ties to the administration of former President Donald Trump.
Dorworth told the Times that he did not recall talking to Gaetz about running for a third candidate. He did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on his resignation.
So far, Greenberg appears to be the only person in Gaetz’s job currently facing charges related to the scandal. Greenberg, who was first indicted in 2020 for allegedly pursuing a political rival, has since been accused by federal prosecutors of illegally accessing a database of motor vehicles to steal the personal information of people, including some, who he was’ getting and using ‘sugar daddy relationships’. “with.
According to a person close to Greenberg, the former tax commissioner regularly sent the same worded messages to multiple women to invite them to parties through so-called Sugar Daddy dating sites, where men make contact with women who usually reward them with money or gifts.
Few details about the sex trade with a minor charge levied at Greenberg last year were made public, but in an August indictment, prosecutors said the minor was between the ages of 14 and 17 and accused Greenberg of illegally obtaining a photograph. and driver’s identification number for the person.
People close to both Greenberg and Gaetz described them as good friends whose connection was as much about Republican Party politics in Florida as it was after hours.
Greenberg, a newcomer to the election when he won the seat in 2016, enjoyed the political status he gained from friendships with Gaetz and other lawmakers, the people close to the men said.
According to the person near Greenberg, Greenberg would brag to friends outside the public eye that he was partying with Gaetz and women.
For his part, Gaetz appeared to have found an ally in Greenberg, who donated $ 1,000 to one of his campaigns and promoted him to a higher office in an interview.
“If Joel were to leave Seminole Co., I think he would be the next congressman from the 7th District,” Gaetz told a Florida radio station in 2017.
That relationship is now being tested. Gaetz, in turn, boosted his defense team and hired two lawyers in New York late last week, including Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor who also represented the Trump organization.