The accused Gaetz is said to be collaborating with the justice department.

A former Florida state official charged with investigating the Department of Justice, who is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz, has provided investigators with information on a variety of topics since last year, including Mr. Gaetz’s activities, according to two people who were informed about the case.

Joel Greenberg, a rural tax collector, told investigators that he and Mr. Gaetz had encounters with women who received cash or gifts in exchange for sex. The people familiar with the investigation investigated the involvement of men with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments and whether the men had sex with a 17-year-old. .

Mr. Greenberg, who allegedly met the women through websites that connect people who go on appointments in exchange for gifts, good food, travel and grants and this to Mr. Gaetz introduces, investigators can report firsthand on their activities.

Mr. Greenberg began talking to investigators as soon as he realized that the government had overwhelming evidence against him and that his only path to cooperation lay in cooperation, the people said. He has met with investigators several times to try to establish his credibility, although the criminal charges against him – including fraud – could undermine his credibility as a witness.

Mr. Greenberg faces dozens of other charges, including sex trafficking with minors, fighting a political rival and corruption. He was first charged in June. The investigation into the Department of Justice drew national attention last week when investigating officers on Mr. Gaetz, a staunch supporter of President Donald J. Trump, who knew Greenberg through Republican political circles in Florida, came to light.

Speculation about Greenberg’s collaboration began to escalate last week after his attorney and a federal prosecutor both said in court that he would likely plead guilty in the coming weeks. “I’m sure Matt Gaetz does not feel very comfortable today,” said Fritz Scheller, Mr. Greenberg’s lawyer, then told reporters.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Florida is leading the investigation, which is not just investigating whether Mr. Greenberg, mr. Gaetz and others did not violate the laws on sex trafficking, but also whether Mr. Gaetz paid for women over 18 to travel with him to places like the Bahamas.

A Justice Department spokesman and a Greenberg lawyer declined to comment.

A Gaetz spokesman said he did nothing wrong. “Congressman Gaetz has never paid for sex,” said spokesman Geoffrey R. Johnson, who suggested that Mr Greenberg “try to ensnare innocent people in his troubles.”

Prosecutors regularly look for collaborators in complex investigations where an insider’s account can help make their case. Authorities often meet with potential collaborators many times before formally agreeing to a plea agreement to determine what information they have and whether they can serve as witnesses against others.

Employees are expected to take full action on their own and others’ crime. If prosecutors conclude that they lied, cooperating witnesses are unlikely to receive a transaction and may even increase their own debt. Those who co-operate in investigations earlier usually get the best deals from the government because their help becomes more important in developing leverage against other accused.

Mr. Greenberg faces a mandatory minimum of at least 12 years in prison: ten years on the sex trade and two on a charge of identity theft.

He is the only person charged in the investigation in public. FBI agents are said to have questioned several women who met with the men.

Prosecutors said Mr. Greenberg suggested in court documents that he engage in a variety of criminal schemes, including some after he was initially charged in June. A judge sent him to jail in March for violating the terms of his bail. These issues can undermine his credibility as a witness.

At the same time, Mr. Greenberg possibly about a deep level of knowledge that can help the government significantly.

The investigation into Mr. Gaetz may be particularly challenging for the government because he has indicated that he is determined to fight any charges, and some jurors may sympathize with him because of his relationship with Mr. Gaetz. Trump, and he appointed two sensationalists. lawyers to defend him.

Defense attorneys, academics and some prosecutors have criticized plea agreements where defendants – especially those like Mr. Greenberg, who faces a long mandatory minimum sentence – is trying to prove their worth to the government in the hope that prosecutors will ask the judge for a reduced sentence.

Greenberg’s own attorney highlighted these issues in an article in the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law in 2010.

“For the criminal defendant facing the minimum mandatory sentence, cooperation (stitches against others) is his only way to avoid the harsh punishment,” Scheller wrote.

Defense attorneys have, he continued, the duty to speak up or stop representing clients who falsely imply others to try to help themselves.

“The system that rewards the problem so nicely,” Scheller wrote, “encourages the advocate to become one himself.”