According to at least one lawyer representing a witness in the case, the Justice Department is completing its long-running sex trafficking investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and will not charge the firebrand politician.
Tim Jansen, a Tallahassee-based attorney representing a witness, claimed DOJ officials called him just after noon to confirm that prosecutors will not pursue Gaetz. Jansen represented the congressman’s ex-girlfriend.
“They had pledged to notify me,” Jansen, a well-known defence attorney, stated. “They’re not going to go against Matt Gaetz. “The case has been closed.”
CNN was the first to break the story. In September, AWN reported that the DOJ’s probe was winding down and that prosecutors were unlikely to indict Gaetz.
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
During the Trump administration, federal prosecutors and the FBI began investigating Gaetz for suspected sex trafficking charges stemming from reports that he paid women for sex and travelled overseas on at least one occasion to parties attended by underage teenagers.
Federal investigators also investigated whether Gaetz obstructed justice as a result of a phone call Gaetz and the lawmaker’s girlfriend had with a witness. The specifics of that phone call are unknown.
Gaetz constantly denied having sex with anyone under the age of 18. On Wednesday, he did not respond to a request for comment.
Gaetz has been a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, frequently appearing on conservative media to defend him. His national image soared last year when he joined a group of hardline Republicans who refused to support GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker. At one point, another Republican confronted Gaetz on the House floor and had to be restrained by others.
The inquiry against Gaetz occurred after federal officials charged Joel Greenberg, a Florida county tax collector who was once close to Gaetz. Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in jail in December.
He was initially charged with more than a dozen criminal crimes, but in May 2021, he pled guilty to six of them, including sex trafficking and fraud, in exchange for his cooperation in other instances, including the Gaetz investigation.
Greenberg’s sentencing was postponed several times due to his cooperation with investigators.
