Another top employee of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has resigned, a person familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast on Thursday.
Devin Murphy, who had served as Gaetz’s legislative director on Capitol Hill, officially broke through Friday as the scandal surrounding a federal investigation into Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct continued to mount. Thursday night, The Daily Beast reported that in May 2018, Gaetz had given Venmo $ 900 to his friend and alleged child sex trafficker Joel Greenberg. Greenberg then paid the same amount to three women, one of whom was only five months old. prior.
Murphy’s dismissal was first reported by The New York TimesAccording to the Times, Murphy had confided to his associates that he was not interested in getting caught up in a “TMZ” -type environment.
Murphy did not respond to The Daily Beast’s repeated requests for comment on Thursday. Gaetz did not immediately answer either.
Murphy had worked for Gaetz since February 2017, almost immediately after Donald Trump’s best ally stepped onto Capitol Hill, according to Legistorm, the unofficial online congressional directory. He started in office as a junior legislative assistant and was promoted to legislative director in December 2018. Murphy’s LinkedIn page does not state which member of Congress he worked for – it is simply listed as “US House of Representatives” – but indicated it ended in April 2021. His other employment dates match those on Legistorm.
Murphy is the second Gaetz employee to leave the office since The New York Times reported on March 31 that the congressman is under the scrutiny of federal investigators investigating whether he paid underage girls for sex, among other things. His communications director, Luke Ball, resigned last week. A statement from Gaetz’s office said the two sides agreed that “it would be best to part ways.”
The departure adds to what was already a difficult day for the Congressman. On Thursday, Gaetz’s companion Joel Greenberg – his friend and political ally who was reportedly his link with young women and girls – appeared before a Florida court, reportedly ready to strike a plea deal with the FBI and cooperate with their Gaetz research. “I’m sure Matt Gaetz isn’t very comfortable today,” Greenberg’s lawyer told reporters in Orlando.
Shortly afterwards, the congressman’s office issued a statement, signed by the women in his office, confirming his character, although only one, his Chief of Staff, added her name.
The congressman himself has opposed calls to resign, insisting that the claims against him about underage sex and sex trafficking are false and are being used to extort him and his family.
And his two now-former assistants aren’t the only ones close (or, once close) to Gaetz, who distance themselves from the MAGA icon. As The Daily Beast reported late last week, former President Trump – no stranger to standing up for friends, or himself, when accused of sexual misconduct or assault – has been personally warned by several advisers to keep quiet about the Gaetz scandal . if possible. For now, the twice-deposed ex-president has almost fully responded to their pleas.
“A ten-foot pole isn’t long enough for something like that,” said Barry Bennett, a longtime Republican agent and lobbyist who advised Trump during his 2016 run.