The Justice Department dropped sex-trafficking charges against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the congressman’s attorney said Wednesday.
Gaetz, a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, has been under investigation since 2020 for allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old boy, paid her to travel with him across state lines and obstructed justice to hide the relationship – a crime. which often brings severe punishment.
“We have recently spoken with the DOJ and have been informed that they have completed the investigation into Congressman Gaetz and the allegations related to sex trafficking and obstruction of justice and they have decided not to bring charges against him,” lawyer Marc Mukasey and Isabelle. Kirshner said in a statement.
CNN also reported that a senior official with the department told lawyers for witnesses Wednesday that they would not prosecute Gaetz. The Justice Department did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for more information.
Gaetz, who won reelection last year, has maintained that he never had sex with a minor, brought one across the state line for sex or obstructed justice to cover up doing so.
“I suspect that some people are trying to categorize my generosity to ex-boyfriends as something more undesirable,” he told The New York Times in 2021.
In recent months, there have been indications that the Gaetz probe is winding down. In October, NBC News reported that investigators had concerns about the credibility of some key witnesses. The Washington Post also reported in September that career prosecutors had recommended against charges because of problems with some witnesses.
The investigation was initially launched after investigators began looking for Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector and close ally of Gaetz, for sex trafficking – a crime for which he recently received an 11-year prison sentence. While seeking an apology from Trump at the end of his presidency, Greenberg wrote in a letter that Gaetz had engaged in sexual relations with a 17-year-old and witnessed someone sending the girl money through a payment app.
In 2021, The Daily Beast also obtained a text that Greenberg had sent to Trump ally Roger Stone when he asked for a pardon, wrote his lawyer and Gaetz, “He knows that he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I had sex with the girl mentioned. who is not of age.”