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Of all the political sex scandals to emerge in recent months, few have been more shocking than that of Matt Gaetz.
And new allegations that emerged today might cost the former congressman his few remaining supporters.
As you may recall, just last year, Gaetz was the frontrunner for the position of U.S. Attorney General.
He was an odd choice for the role, considering he had already been investigated for child sex trafficking.
And now, it looks as though allegations that Gaetz thought has been buried for good have resurfaced in very public fashion.
In November of 2024, Gaetz abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives, just days before the House Ethics Committee was set to release its findings on his alleged sexual encounters with underage girls.
Gaetz withdrew his nomination for attorney general, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would “strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.”
It looked as though the committee’s findings would forever remain a mystery,
But on Thursday, roughly one year after Gaetz’s resignation, The New York Times published a dramatic report about the life and circumstances of one of the former congressman’s alleged victims.
“She was 17 and a high school junior in Florida. She was working at McDonald’s. And she was living in and out of a homeless shelter,” the article begins.
“Hoping to save up to buy braces to fix her teeth, she falsely advertised herself in 2017 as 18 years old on a website that matches men looking for ‘companionship’ with young women looking to make money.
“What followed would set off a chain of events that would have a dramatic impact on her life and help upend the political career of one of the men she would encounter, Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican.”
The report contains quotes from the girl’s lawyer, Laura B. Wolf, who spoke with the Times after a Florida judge ruled that certain files pertaining to the Gaetz investigation should be unsealed.
“The vulnerable circumstances most crime victims face are rarely known to the public,” Wolf said.
“Although my client’s circumstances were revealed outside of her control, I hope it helps for the public to see a fuller and more human picture of her than the press has reported on to date.”
Wolf added: “Power imbalances can be age, but they can also be financial. My client had little economic security, which allowed for financial leverage over her.”
The girl was to serve as the chief witness against Gaetz, but the investigation came to an end when the Justice Department under President Trump declined to bring charges.
“I never had sex with this person. This person threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn’t pay her $2.3 million dollars,” Gaetz told the Times via text message on Thursday. “She never sued me because her story is fiction.”
The new information regarding Gaetz comes as politicians on both sides of the aisle are demanding the release of the Epstein files, which could incriminate Trump and others.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
