DOJ Mapped Web Of Payments Gaetz Sent To Women Who Said They Were Paid For Sex: Report | EUROtoday

Federal investigators discovered a path of 1000’s of {dollars} in funds made by former Rep. Matt Gaetz to girls who testified they had been paid for intercourse, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The Justice Department spent three years investigating Gaetz. During the probe, the company reportedly compiled a chart that confirmed 1000’s of {dollars} in Venmo funds despatched between the then-lawmaker and his associates. Some of these funds had been made to the ladies who testified to the division about him, in response to the Times.

Gaetz and his associates allegedly held drug-fueled intercourse events for years between 2017 and 2020. But the Florida Republican — who was not too long ago chosen by President-elect Donald Trump as his nominee for lawyer normal — has rejected claims of impropriety. Both he and his allies level to the truth that the Justice Department closed its investigation final yr with out submitting any fees towards him, reportedly on account of issues with the credibility of two witnesses.

Senators on each side of the aisle have signaled Gaetz may have a fierce affirmation battle ought to Trump stick by him as his alternative.

Gaetz resigned his seat within the House final week.

“This purposeful leaking of classified investigative materials is the sort of politicized D.O.J. weaponization that Matt Gaetz will end,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, advised the Times when requested concerning the cost chart. “The Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years, failed to find a crime and are now leaking material with false information to smear the next attorney general.”

The House Ethics Committee had been conducting its personal investigation into Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use till Gaetz resigned from Congress, abruptly ending the probe.

A lawyer representing two girls who testified earlier than the committee claimed the ladies advised lawmakers Gaetz paid them for intercourse utilizing Venmo, and one testified she personally noticed Gaetz having intercourse with an underage lady at a celebration in 2017.

Reporting from the Washington Post added to these claims on Wednesday: Investigators on the House Ethics Committee obtained data exhibiting Gaetz had paid greater than $10,000 to 2 girls who testified earlier than the committee, the newspaper discovered.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers within the Senate has known as on the ethics panel to launch its findings. But the committee — which is cut up equally with 5 Republican and 5 Democratic members — deadlocked alongside occasion strains in a vote Wednesday on whether or not to launch their investigation.

The panel is anticipated meet once more on Dec. 5 to rethink the matter.

The Times notes the Justice Department sometimes retains paperwork it gathers throughout investigations secret if no fees are introduced and the probe is closed. The House Ethics Committee was capable of acquire the DOJ’s chart of funds, however different info lawmakers requested was not turned over.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee not too long ago requested the Justice Department to show over paperwork associated to its investigation into Gaetz.