A lawyer representing two women who testified that former Representative Matt Gaetz paid them for sex told multiple news outlets on Monday that one of the women described witnessing Mr. Gaetz having sex with an underage girl at a party in 2017.
The lawyer, Joel Leppard, told CBS News, ABC News and CNN about his clients’ testimony to the House Ethics Committee, which was investigating allegations about Mr. Gaetz and young women, as well as accusations of drug use.
Mr. Gaetz resigned last week shortly after President-elect Donald J. Trump announced he planned to nominate the Florida lawmaker to be his attorney general, despite having been investigated by the Justice Department previously.
After the resignation, Speaker Mike Johnson announced that he would not make public the committee’s report because Mr. Gaetz was no longer in office.
Mr. Leppard, speaking to ABC News, said one of the women testified that “in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw” Mr. Gaetz “having sex with her friend, who was 17.”
He told CNN that Mr. Gaetz later discovered the girl was underage.
Both women also told the committee that they were paid for sex using Venmo, Mr. Leppard said.
Mr. Gaetz has previously denied the allegations.
Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesman for the Trump transition, said, “Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration.”
Mr. Gaetz is one of several controversial nominees whom Mr. Trump has announced he will submit for Senate confirmation. But he is the one who has provoked the most negative reactions from Republican senators.
Source: Elections - nytimes.com
