A photo of a young man circulating on social media does not show Congressman Matt Gaetz in high school. Gaetz’s face was processed in the original photo.
Examples can be seen here and here.
A reverse Google Images search reveals that the original photo appeared in an article in The Sun, titled “This gallery of classic ’70s and’ 80s cuts is up.” The man in the photo does not look like Gaetz. Gaetz’s face was reworked on the original image.
The posts are being circulated amid an investigation by the Justice Department into whether Gaetz may have violated sex trafficking laws by paying travel expenses for a 17-year-old woman, according to a U.S. law enforcement source who spoke of anonymity (here ).
The ethics committee of the U.S. House of Representatives is also investigating Gaetz for allegations including possible sexual misconduct and illegal drug use (here).
VERDICT
Alter. The original photo was digitally altered to include the face of Congressman Matt Gaetz.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.