Senior department officials have not made a final decision on whether to charge Gaetz, but it is rare for such a tip to be rejected, these people told The Washington Post, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the discussions. They added that it is always possible that additional evidence will emerge that could change prosecutors’ understanding of the case. But federal authorities are unlikely to charge Gaetz with a crime in an investigation that began in late 2020 and focused on his alleged involvement with a 17-year-old several years earlier. Gaetz, 40, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he has never paid for sex. He also said that the only time he had sex with a 17-year-old was when he was also 17. Gaetz’s attorney, Isabelle Kirshner, declined to comment. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment. Gaetz has sought pardons in connection with the Justice Department’s sex-trafficking investigation, people familiar with the matter say Investigators set out to determine whether the congressman paid for sex in violation of federal sex-trafficking laws and examined his dealings with the then 17-year-old, people familiar with the matter said. Earlier this year, a federal grand jury in Orlando heard testimony from associates of Gaetz, including an ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend was among several women on a trip Gaetz allegedly took to the Bahamas in 2018 that was of particular interest to investigators. The 17-year-old girl discussed in the investigation was also on that trip, although she was already 18 or older at the time, people familiar with the matter said. He has been a key witness in the investigation, but people familiar with the case said he is one of two people whose testimony has issues that veteran prosecutors believe could not be mustered with a jury. The other is a former friend of Gaetz’s, Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector for Seminole County, Florida. He pleaded guilty last year to sex trafficking of a minor and a number of other crimes as part of a cooperation agreement with authorities. Greenberg was first charged in 2020 with fabricating allegations and evidence to defame a political opponent, but prosecutors continued the investigation and added additional charges to his case. He eventually agreed to plead guilty to six criminal charges, including child sex trafficking, identity theft and wire fraud. The sex-trafficking investigation involving Matt Gaetz explained In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the other 27 charges Greenberg faced and to recommend a term within federal sentencing guidelines, which are often far less than the legal maximum sentences. They also agreed to suggest other possible breaks in the sentence. If Greenberg provided “substantial assistance” in building other cases, prosecutors may ask the judge to deviate below the minimum required sentence, according to Greenberg’s plea agreement. His sentencing is scheduled for later this year. It was while looking into Greenberg’s conduct that investigators found evidence that potentially implicated Gaetz in sex trafficking, people familiar with the matter said. Prosecutors were investigating whether Greenberg paid women to have sex with Gaetz and whether the two had sexual partners, including the 17-year-old girl in Greenberg’s case, these people said. How the Justice Department Came to Investigate Rep. Matt Gaetz Gaetz, who represents a predominantly conservative district in Florida, is known as a staunch defender of former President Donald Trump. The investigation against him was opened during the Trump administration and proceeded with the approval of then-Attorney General William P. Barr. Greenberg has been providing investigators with information about Gaetz since last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Greenberg’s credibility would be a major challenge to any prosecution of Gaetz, in part because one of the crimes Greenberg admitted to was fabricating allegations against a teacher who was running against him to become tax collector. Greenberg had sent letters to the school falsely claiming the teacher had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student — a similar claim to the Gaetz case. Greenberg also pleaded guilty to a number of other crimes, including stealing from the IRS and defrauding a government loan program that provided relief to businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. David Bear, a lawyer for the falsely accused teacher Greenberg, said last year that “no one is going to believe anything Joel Greenberg says on his own.” Olivia Julianna turns Matt Gaetz insult into abortion fundraising weapon The Gaetz case took a particularly strange turn when authorities accused a Florida business executive of trying to extort the congressman’s wealthy father as part of a scheme to secure a presidential pardon for the younger Gaetz amid an ongoing sex-trafficking investigation. The company’s executive, Stephen M. Alford, eventually pleaded guilty in 2021 to wire fraud. Authorities say he approached Gaetz’s father, Don Gaetz, saying he could “guarantee” his son’s favor in the sex-trafficking case as part of a complex $25 million scheme that also included an effort to find a missing former agent of the FBI. Instead of paying him, Don Gaetz went to the FBI and secretly recorded the conversations. Last week, the Washington Post reported that Gaetz told a former White House aide, John McEntee, that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from Trump shortly before Trump left office. According to people familiar with McEntee’s testimony to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, McEntee said Gaetz told him that while he had done nothing wrong, “they are trying to make his life hell , and you know. If the president could pardon him, that would be great.” Gaetz said he asked White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for a pardon, McEntee testified, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his testimony.
