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Lawyers for the lead witness for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Friday that the witness will be the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether Gaetz had sexual relations with underage girls while he was a member of Congress. He said he was cooperating.
Fritz Scherer, a lawyer for Gaetz’s former friend and political ally Joel Greenberg, said he provided the committee with documents related to Greenberg’s claims about Gaetz. Greenberg previously told federal investigators that he witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl.
“Mr. Greenberg has and will continue to cooperate with all requests of Congress,” Scherer said in an email Friday.
Greenberg pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and other charges in May 2021 and is serving an 11-year prison sentence. He previously cooperated with a Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz engaged in sex trafficking of minors, a federal crime punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison.
The Justice Department quietly closed its investigation into Gates last year after investigators concluded they could not make a strong enough case against him in court, according to people familiar with the matter.
Scherer said the documents he submitted to Congress were submitted in response to a request from the House Ethics Committee.
Mr. Gaetz’s spokeswoman, Gillian L. Wyant, said Friday that the Justice Department received the same material sent to the Ethics Commission but “determined it to be unreliable and declined to file charges.” . News outlets “should not be laundering slander from people in prison,” she added.
It is unclear how useful this document will be to the committee. The committee began its investigation into Gaetz several months ago, but after compiling its findings on former New York state congressman George Santos, who fabricated much of his background while running for Congress, the committee has launched an investigation into Gates. . The House of Representatives expelled Santos late last year after the committee released its report.
The investigation into Gates has made slow progress as investigators have been fed a variety of information. Gaetz claimed the investigation was in retaliation for leading the charge to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House.
The Justice Department’s decision not to indict Gates comes two months after Greenberg was sentenced to prison. Scherer said at the time that the Justice Department’s decision proved there were “two systems” in this country. One favors politicians like Gaetz, and the other punishes less powerful politicians like Greenberg.
“Why prosecute the privileged class when defendants with limited liability provide enough cannon fodder?” Scherer said at the time.
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