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Matt Gaetz and pal Joel Greenberg paid women for sex via apps and in cash, new bombshell NYT report claims

Joel Greenberg reportedly introduced the lawmaker to the women they recruited online for sex and called them to hotels around Florida
UPDATED APR 2, 2021
Matt Gaetz who is under investigation for potential sex trafficking of a minor is accused of paying women online for sex along with friend Joel Greenberg (Getty Images/Facebook)
Matt Gaetz who is under investigation for potential sex trafficking of a minor is accused of paying women online for sex along with friend Joel Greenberg (Getty Images/Facebook)

Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, who is facing a justice department probe for alleged sex trafficking, reportedly paid women for ecstasy via payment apps after he was introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg. The New York Times, which revealed earlier this week that Gaetz is facing the inquiry over having sex with an underage girl and that the probe was launched in the final months of the former Donald Trump administration, came up with the latest revelation on Thursday, April 1.

The latest Times report, which has been penned by Katie Benner and Michael S Schmidt who also wrote the previous report and cite several sources, said it reviewed receipts from Cash App and Apple Pay that showed payments from Gaetz and Greenberg to one of the women and a payment from Greenberg to another woman. The report also cited two people who said that the women acknowledged before their friends that the payments were made for sex with the two men. Speaking about the justice department probe, the NYT report of April 1 said the investigation into Gaetz and Greenberg is focused on the duo’s involvement with several women who were recruited online for sexual activity and received payments in cash, according to people who are close to the probe and documents.

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The NYT report reads: “Investigators believe Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters. Mr. Greenberg introduced the women to Mr. Gaetz, who also had sex with them, the people said.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks to a crowd during a rally against Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) on January 28, 2021 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. (Getty Images)

Greenberg is currently in jail where he is waiting for a trial on sex trafficking charges related to a minor aged between 14 and 17 across a period of six months in 2017. One of the women who allgedly had sex with both Gaetz and Greenberg also agreed to engage in sexual activities with an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida’s Republican circles, an informed source told NYT. The source added that Greenberg initially contacted the woman online and introduced her to Gaetz.

The Florida lawmaker though has denied having ever paid women for sex.

Gaetz, Greenberg met the women at hotels around Florida?

In 2019 and 2020, Gaetz and Greenberg asked the women to meet at certain places at certain times -- often in hotels around Florida -- and would tell them about the money they wanted to pay, NYT cited messages and interviews to say. One source allegedly revealed that the two men also paid in cash, which was sometimes withdrawn from a hotel ATM. The encounters also saw people taking ecstasy, an illegal mood-changing drug before having sex, a couple of sources said. 

Gaetz’s office issued a statement on April 1 which said: “Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex. Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.” Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for Greenberg, and a spokesperson for the justice department, declined to speak on the matter.

According to the Times report, it is not illegal to give adults free hotel stays, meals and other gifts but if the prosecutors prove that the women were paid for sex, they could accuse Gaetz for trafficking the women under “force, fraud or coercion”. Prosecutors have filed trafficking charges against people who are suspected of providing drugs for sex since feeding another individual’s drug habit could constitute an act of coercion.
 
The act of providing someone below 18 anything valuable in exchange for sex -- including meals, hotels, drugs, etc. -- is also considered a violation of the federal child sex-trafficking law. If convicted, a minimum of 10-year prison sentence is confirmed.

These remarks were made by the Internet and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and nor does it support these claims being made on the Internet.

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