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- Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified before a grand jury on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
- This marks another development in the wide-ranging federal sex-trafficking investigation into Gaetz.
- Prosecutors are reportedly investigating Gaetz for three separate crimes.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified before a federal grand jury on Wednesday, NBC News reported.
According to the report, Gaetz’s ex, whose name was withheld to protect her privacy, has been talking to federal prosecutors for months about a possible deal to testify in exchange for immunity.
This development marks another phase in the Justice Department’s wide-ranging investigation into whether the Florida Republican violated sex-trafficking laws. The existence of the probe first became public last March, when The New York Times reported that investigators were examining if Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old in 2019 and paid for her to travel with him, which would break federal sex-trafficking statutes.
Prosecutors netted a significant victory in May, when Gaetz’s close associate and former Florida tax official Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty to several felonies and formally agreed to cooperate with the sex crimes investigation.
The Times reported in April that Greenberg had given investigators information about an “array of topics” since he first began cooperating in 2020, including telling them that he and Gaetz had interactions with women who were given cash and gifts in exchange for sex.
According to The Daily Beast, Greenberg also said in a letter that Gaetz paid for sex with a minor. Greenberg is said to have sent the letter to the longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone in the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency in a last-ditch bid to obtain a pardon.
NBC reported on Wednesday that prosecutors are investigating three separate crimes: if Gaetz sex-trafficked the 17-year-old; if he violated the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of “any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose” across state lines; and if he obstructed justice.
Insider reached out to Gaetz’s office for comment.
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