Things aren’t looking good for Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz lately after his close associate Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County, Florida, tax commissioner, struck a deal with federal prosecutors to reduce his criminal case and entered a guilty plea in court this week. And now, the MAGA Congressman’s ex-girlfriend — a former Capitol Hill staffer — is reportedly going to cooperate with federal authorities, too.
CNN reports that the woman “is seen as a critical witness, as she has been linked to Gaetz as far back as the summer of 2017, a period of time that has emerged as a key window of scrutiny for investigators. She can also help investigators understand the relevance of hundreds of transactions they have obtained records of, including those involving alleged payments for sex, the sources said.”
“News of the woman’s willingness to talk, which has not been previously reported, comes just days after the Justice Department formally entered into a plea agreement with Joel Greenberg, a one-time close friend of Gaetz whose entanglement with young women first drew the congressman onto investigators’ radar,” the report continues.
“CNN reported last week that investigators were pressing for the woman’s cooperation,” the outlet reports. “The sources would not say whether she had reached a formal cooperation agreement.”
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There are other Republicans that have been ensnared in this investigation, too. And according to Greenberg’s plea agreement, he entered a guilty plea to six charges, including sex trafficking of a child, production of a false ID, wire fraud, and stalking. In exchange, the federal government will dismiss 27 other counts. Meaning that he didn’t get 27 accounts dismissed for nothing. Greenberg has to have some sort of information to trade for the reduction in charges.
However, Gaetz and his representatives have said that Greenberg lacks credibility, noting that Greenberg admitted in his plea agreement to falsely accusing someone of having sex with a minor. But, it’s doubtful that Gaetz can attack his own former girlfriend’s credibility. And it certainly appears that Gaetz hangs out with some dubious characters. Maybe his ex-girlfriend can clear that up.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
