Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend is cooperating with prosecutors investigating possible sex trafficking, according to a report.
The unnamed woman worked on Capitol Hill and was linked to the Florida congressman as far back as 2017, CNN reported.
She has featured in the investigation thanks to a video she filmed of herself naked hula-hooping, which she sent to Gaetz, and he reportedly shared with other members of Congress.
Gaetz is in the spotlight thanks to his friendship with a former Florida tax collector, Joel Greenberg, described as his ‘wingman’, who on Monday pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and sexual offenses.
On Friday night Gaetz will headline a Make America Great Again rally in Mesa, Arizona, along with Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia representative.
Earlier on Friday, Gaetz told Newsmax: ‘I’m not too worried about Joel Greenberg.
‘Joel Greenberg is literally sitting in jail right now because he originally accused someone who was innocent of having had a relationship with a minor. That wasn’t true, it was just a false thing that Joel Greenberg had said and that’s landed him in quite a bit of trouble.’
Gaetz’s ex is considered key to helping prosecutors piece together transaction records, which they believe to be payment for sex.
Greenberg told investigators that Gaetz and at least two other men had sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl.
Matt Gaetz, 39, is being investigated for sex trafficking and prostitution
Gaetz with his fiancee Ginger Luckey, who he met in March 2020 and proposed to in December
Gaetz, Greenberg and Roger Stone, self-described Republican ‘dirty trickster’
In April, Politico reported that the former girlfriend had told friends she was worried that a 17-year-old who is key to the federal government’s sex-crimes investigation tried to get her to incriminate him on a recorded call.
The woman called the ex-girlfriend to discuss a trip they all took to the Bahamas, in September 2018.
The call took place sometime after Greenberg was indicted for the sex crime in August.
Gaetz was accompanied in the Bahamas by two other Florida Republican political players – Jason Pirozzolo, a former Orlando-area aviation authority member, who has acted as a fundraiser for Governor Ron DeSantis; and Halsey Beshears, a former state representative.
Federal authorities are examining the Bahamas trip to see if it violated the Mann Act, which forbids transporting people across state lines to engage in prostitution.
The alleged victim in the sex-trafficking case had turned 18 almost nine months before the Bahamas trip.
But Gaetz has acknowledged he’s the subject of a federal investigation into whether he had improper involvement with her as a 17-year-old.
Federal authorities seized the iPhones of Gaetz and his former girlfriend in January.
‘Congressman Gaetz has never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex,’ said Gaetz’s spokesman, Harlan Hill.
‘Mr Greenberg has now pleaded guilty to falsely accusing someone else of sex with a minor. That person was innocent. So is Congressman Gaetz.’
Since December, Gaetz has been engaged to Ginger Luckey, a 26-year-old sustainable business analyst, who he met at nine months earlier at a Trump fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
On May 14 federal prosecutors had dropped 27 charges against Greenberg in exchange for his cooperation and testimony.
Greenberg said he would cooperate with federal prosecutors and admitted to introducing the minor he trafficked to other adult men who engaged in sex acts with the minor in Greenberg’s presence, court papers showed.
The papers did not identify the other adult men. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. He was not mentioned in the plea agreement or during the court hearing.
But Greenberg, who is married, is thought to be ready to accuse Gaetz of paying at least 15 young women for sex including prostitute Megan Zalonka after a cocaine-fueled party at a Trump fundraiser.
Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Scheller, indicated his client would cooperate if prosecutors sought information from him about Gaetz, telling reporters: ‘He will honor his plea agreement.’
Attorney Fritz Scheller and Joel Greenberg in a court sketch of Monday’s hearing
Joel Greenberg’s attorney Fritz Scheller speaks outside the federal court after the plea hearing
Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared in federal court in Orlando Monday.
He had been held in custody since March and faces at least 12 years in jail.
He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men. Other charges include ID theft, stalking and fraud.
The plea deal marks a turning point in the sprawling federal investigation that has roiled Florida politics and ensnared Gaetz one of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders in Congress.
In March, it was revealed that Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines.
Investigators are also looking into allegations he paid women for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by Greenberg.
During the nearly hour-long hearing Monday, Greenberg acknowledged he understood the charges he was pleading guilty to and the possible punishment he faced and told the judge he was of a sound frame of mind.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman told Greenberg that even though prosecutor may request some leniency from his sentencing judge because of his cooperation, there was no guarantee a judge would agree to the prosecutors’ recommendations and that Greenberg would be unable to change his plea.
No sentencing date was immediately set.
Monday’s court appearance marked the first time Greenberg has been seen in court since the Gaetz investigation blew into the public spotlight in March.
Outside the courthouse, a plane flew over during the hearing pulling a banner that read: ‘TICK TOCK MATT GAETZ.’
After the hearing Greenberg was taken back to jail in handcuffs and shackles, wearing a dark inmate uniform and looking worn down.
A banner reading ‘Tick Tock Matt Gaetz’ is flown above the federal courthouse during a hearing for Joel Greenberg, Monday
‘That could be trafficking’: Texts between Matt Gaetz’s old wingman Joel Greenberg and a Florida radio host reveal they feared their ‘underage sex ring’ would be exposed
Text messages exchanged between Matt Gaetz’s old wingman Joel Greenberg and a Florida radio host have revealed how they feared their alleged sex trafficking ring could be exposed.
The messages, obtained by The Daily Beast, were sent between Greenberg and former local CBS sports radio host Joe ‘Big Joe’ Ellicott over the encrypted messaging app Signal.
Greenberg, a disgraced tax collector and Florida politician, pleaded guilty this week to sex trafficking a minor as part of a deal with prosecutors that he agreed to in exchange for testifying against Gaetz.
Gaetz, the Republican Congressman for Florida’s 1st district, has not been arrested or charged with any crimes, and he has denied allegations that he ever sex trafficked anyone.
In the text messages, Ellicott – who is friends with Greenberg – raised concerns that others they know might face legal troubles for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl.
The messages, obtained by The Daily Beast, were sent between Joel Greenberg (right) and former local CBS sports radio host Joe ‘Big Joe’ Ellicott (left)
He texted Greenberg that a mutual female friend, who wasn’t named, ‘knew [the minor] was underage the whole time, had sex with her, and they both went [to] see other guys.’
Ellicott also said ‘for other guys she brought ___ along to see, that could be trafficking.’
The ex-radio host is linked via Venmo to Gaetz and a number of women involved in the alleged sex ring.
The messages were sent last year when Greenberg was already being investigated by federal authorities over the alleged ring.
They were meant to vanish after 30 seconds given they were exchanged over Signal but Greenberg took a screenshot of them.
The emergence of the messages comes a day after it was revealed that Ellicott and Greenberg were named in a grand jury subpoena related to the federal sex trafficking probe related to Gaetz.
Gaetz and Republican politician Halsey Beshears were also named in the subpoena, which was sent to an unidentified individual in December and recently obtained by Politico.
The mention of Ellicott’s name in the subpoena is the first time he has been linked to the Gaetz’s sex trafficking probe. Beshears was on a 2018 Bahamas trip with Gaetz that investigators are probing.
Matt Gaetz, the Republican Congressman for Florida’s 1st district, has not been arrested or charged with any crimes, and he has denied allegations that he ever sex trafficked anyone
Greenberg pleaded guilty this week to sex trafficking a minor as part of a deal with prosecutors that he agreed to in exchange for testifying against Gaetz.
He told prosecutors that he and other adult men drugged and sexually trafficked a 17-year-old girl across state lines.
The subpoena that names the four men was seeking any communications, documents, recordings and payments the subpoenaed individual had with them dating back to January 2016.
Greenberg, a disgraced tax collector and Florida politician, pleaded guilty this week to sex trafficking a minor as part of a deal with prosecutors that he agreed to in exchange for testifying against Gaetz
It also requested documents and ‘records of payments’ to any women who attended parties or females the subpoenaed individual met through the four men since 2016.
The details in the subpoena, which was dated December 28, provides new insight into who investigators are looking at in relation to the Gaetz probe.
Ellicott is a close friend and former employee of Greenberg.
Sources told Politico that Ellicott is being looked at for alleged tracking of a minor. He has not commented on the probe or the subpoena.
Ellicott was one of Greenberg’s groomsmen, once co-hosted a local CBS sports radio show where he was referred to as Big Joe and ran a collectibles store.
Greenberg hired him as an assistant deputy tax collector when he became Seminole County tax collector – despite Ellicott having no taxation or government experience.
He was once accused of sexually harassing a woman in the tax collecting office. The woman, who had threatened to sue, reached a quick $40,000 settlement.
Ellicott was let go when his contract expired last September – just months after Greenberg quit following his indictment.
The fourth person named in the subpoena, Halsey Beshears, served Gaetz in the Florida Legislature.
Ellicott, the ex-radio host, is linked via Venmo to Gaetz and a number of women involved in the alleged sex ring. He is a close friend and former employee of Greenberg
He recently resigned as secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation after investigators started probing a 2018 Bahamas trip that Beshears took with Gaetz.
Investigators are probing whether Gaetz accepted paid escorts as part of an influence campaign for medical marijuana during the trip.
The probe into Gaetz emerged after Greenberg was arrested last year and immediately started telling the feds about the Florida Congressman and how they allegedly sex trafficked together.
Greenberg offered up information in a bid to get himself a lesser prison sentence.
He pleaded guilty on Monday to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.
Gaetz was not mentioned in the plea agreement or during the court hearing.
As part of his plea deal, Greenberg admitted he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 from 2016 to 2018, sometimes through online payment services like Venmo. They include at least one underage girl he paid to have sex with him and others, the plea agreement says.
Prosecutors wrote in the plea agreement that Greenberg had introduced the girl to others, who also ‘engaged in commercial sex acts’ with her.
Greenberg first met the girl online from a website where she was posing as an adult and first paid her $400 after a meeting on a boat, the documents said. He later invited her to hotels in Florida where he and others would have sex with her and supplied her and other people with ecstasy, according to the plea deal.
Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida, with his wife Abby and their two kids
In total, prosecutors say Greenberg had sex with the girl at least seven times.
Greenberg’s legal scrutiny began when he was arrested last summer on charges of stalking a political opponent, Brian Beute. Prosecutors said he mailed fake letters to the school where his opponent worked, signed by a nonexistent ‘very concerned student,’ who alleged the opponent had engaged in sexual misconduct with another student.
Bodycam footage has since emerged of him being spoken to by police after his mother-in-law called 911 when he drove 170 miles to find his wife while on parole for sex trafficking a minor.
Greenberg’s cooperation – as a key figure in the investigation and a close ally of Gaetz’s – may escalate the potential legal and political liability that the firebrand Republican congressman is facing.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two Associated Press sources.
Investigators have also been looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the AP sources said.
They are also scrutinizing Gaetz’s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored, which is tied to the Bahamas trip.
Gaetz has denied the allegations and any accusation of wrongdoing and has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress.
A spokesperson for the congressman has said Gaetz ‘never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex.’