The partygoers, sometimes dressed in formal attire from a political event they had just left, mixed and shared drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. Some had sex.
Gaetz, the brash Republican, liked to talk about politics, one of the women said. He acted like a “ frat-type party boy, ” she said, sometimes taking pills she thought were recreational drugs.
Details of the parties, not previously reported, have been described to CNN by two women who have attended several of them in recent years. Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
After a few parties, the money changed hands. According to receipts reviewed by CNN, Gaetz and his associate Joel Greenberg, a former county tax commissioner charged last year on multiple federal charges, used digital payment applications to send hundreds of dollars to at least one woman attending the parties.
The receipts viewed by CNN record payments that occurred between 2018 and 2019 and included at least one that indicated on a label that it was intended to compensate for travel.
One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after a number of parties. She said some of the payments were for sex, but would not say who she slept with. She did say she never received any money directly from Gaetz.
Some of the parties were more quiet, the other woman said. Some took place in hotel suites at the end of alcohol-filled political functions.
“No one ever wants to stop partying, stop drinking, once you’ve had a few glasses of champagne in you,” she said.
A Gaetz spokesperson did not directly respond to CNN’s request for comment, but disputed the use of anonymous sources.
According to people familiar with the investigation, authorities have spoken to some of the women involved with the Congressman and his close friend, Greenberg, the former tax commissioner in Seminole County, Florida, who is currently facing 33 federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor.
One of the women who spoke to CNN said she did this in part because the image of Gaetz that may have been linked to sex trafficking that has emerged in recent days does not match what she saw. Both women said they never saw anyone who appeared to be a minor at the parties. Neither has spoken to federal investigators, they said.
Gaetz has denied ever paying for sex and has spent the past two weeks trying to frame the allegations against him due to political bias in the legal system and the media.
He also accused investigators of turning his generosity towards women into something criminal.
“Providing flights and hotel rooms for people you are dating who are of legal age is not a crime,” Gaetz said in an interview with Fox News late last month.
The New York Times first reported that Gaetz made digital payments to women, and last Thursday, The Daily Beast also reported on Venmo transactions between Gaetz and Greenberg, and Greenberg and young women.
Last week, Greenberg’s attorney and a federal prosecutor told a judge that Greenberg would likely enter a plea deal in the coming weeks, potentially allowing the Justice Department access to a witness with in-depth knowledge of a potential misconduct by Gaetz.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing on Thursday last week, Fritz Scheller, Greenberg’s attorney, declined to say whether his client would be willing to cooperate as part of the potential plea deal and would not reveal if Greenberg already met had had with prosecutors to describe what he knows. about Gaetz.
However, he added that his client is ‘uniquely situated’.
“I’m sure Matt Gaetz isn’t very comfortable today,” said Scheller
Scheller declined to comment on CNN for this story.
The investigation into Gaetz began in the closing months of the Trump-era Justice Department under then Attorney General William Barr and was initially part of a broader investigation into allegations of human trafficking against Greenberg.
As part of the ongoing investigation, researchers are investigating Gaetz’s connections to several Florida associates who may have benefited politically in exchange for congressional favors, including escorts, travel and campaign donations, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
One of the focal points is a trip that Gaetz took with friends and young women to the Bahamas, CNN reports. Investigators are trying to determine whether Gaetz received travel and women in exchange for political favors as part of their wider investigation, the sources said.
Several of those allies have been involved in the scandal in recent days. Chris Dorworth, a former state legislator who has described Gaetz as a friend and “ legislative mentor, ” stepped down from his position at a powerful lobbying firm on Friday, a day after The New York Times reported talking to Gaetz about a candidate for a lead a third party in a local election – in violation of campaign finance laws.
“The current political environment is filthy, and I told Brian I don’t think it’s fair that the recent media storm is taking away their missions,” Dorworth wrote on Twitter, referring to Brian Ballard, founder of the Florida lobby group. with close ties to former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Dorworth told the Times he did not recall talking to Gaetz about running a third candidate. He did not respond to CNN’s request for comment on his resignation.
So far, Greenberg appears to be the only person in Gaetz’s orbit currently charged with the scandal. Greenberg was first charged in 2020 for the alleged stalking of a political rival, and since then Greenberg has been accused by federal prosecutors of unlawfully accessing a motor vehicle database to obtain and use people’s personal information, including some of whom he ‘was involved in’ sugar daddy ‘relationships. “with.
According to a person close to Greenberg, the former tax commissioner regularly sent identically worded messages to multiple women inviting them to parties through so-called sugar daddy dating sites, where men connect with women who usually compensate them with money or gifts.
Few details about the sex trafficking of a minor charge levied in Greenberg last year have been revealed to the public, but in an August indictment, prosecutors said the minor was between the ages of 14 and 17, and charged Greenberg of having obtained a photo unlawfully. and driver identification number for the person.
People close to both Greenberg and Gaetz have described them as close friends whose connection was both about Republican Party politics in Florida and after-hours socializing.
Greenberg, a newcomer to the elected office when he won the county seat in 2016, enjoyed the political status he gained through friendships with Gaetz and other lawmakers, the people close to the men said.
Out of the public eye, Greenberg would brag to friends that he was partying with Gaetz and women, according to the person close to Greenberg.
For his part, Gaetz appeared to have found an ally in Greenberg, donating $ 1,000 to one of his campaigns and promoting him to a higher position in an interview.
“If Joel were to run from Seminole Co, I think he would become the next 7th district congressman,” Gaetz told a Florida radio station in 2017.
That relationship is now being tested. Gaetz, in turn, boosted his defense team by hiring two attorneys in New York late last week, including Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor who has also represented the Trump organization.