Wait, Wasn’t Matt Gaetz Under Investigation for Sex Trafficking?

Matt Gaetz is experiencing the glow-up of a century, and not just because he blasted his forehead full of Botox right before the Republican National Convention. Less than two years ago, Gaetz was under federal investigation for allegedly sex trafficking a minor. Now, to the shock of even Republican senators, he’s on his way to becoming Trump’s attorney general.

If you’re wondering how we got here — and what, exactly, happened to that sex-trafficking investigation — here’s what to know.

The Justice Department started investigating Gaetz in 2019.

In 2021, the New York Times reported that the DOJ had been investigating Gaetz over “encounters” with a 17-year-old girl for two years, having opened its inquiry during the final months of the Trump administration. Gaetz — then a 39-year-old congressman from Florida known for his lib-hating theatrics and unflinching support of Trump — denied wrongdoing and accused the Justice Department of “trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know, when I was a single guy.” He also framed the probe as part of an elaborate extortion plot.

Several damning details from the investigation emerged, including evidence that Gaetz had Venmoed his political ally and convicted sex trafficker Joel Greenberg. Meanwhile, Greenberg agreed to a plea deal that required his cooperation in other DOJ investigations, suggesting he might offer up info on Gaetz. The following year, Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified in front of a grand jury about a Bahamas trip investigators believed Gaetz had taken with a group of female escorts that allegedly included a minor.

The DOJ ultimately decided not to press charges.

Federal prosecutors closed their investigation into Gaetz last year without pressing charges, after credibility concerns reportedly emerged around two central witnesses: Greenberg and the alleged minor on the Bahamas trip. Apparently, Greenberg had admitted to falsely accusing a teacher and political rival of having an inappropriate relationship with a student, which would cast doubt on any testimony he could give about Gaetz’s relationship with a minor. Per the Washington Post, there were also questions about whether the other witness was still underage when the trip took place.

A separate House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz was ongoing until last week.

Meanwhile, around the same time news of the DOJ investigation came to light, the House Ethics Committee announced a concurrent probe into Gaetz’s activities, including allegations of sex trafficking, misusing state ID records and campaign funds, sharing inappropriate images on the House floor, and improper drug use. Earlier this year, the bipartisan committee released a rare update, announcing that it had expanded its investigation to look into whether Gaetz “sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.” Gaetz dismissed the new allegations as “frivolous.”

Last week, the Ethics Committee was forced to close its investigation when Gaetz resigned from the House in anticipation of his big new job (though many seem skeptical Gaetz will actually be approved by the Senate), since his activities are now out of its jurisdiction. The ten-member group was reportedly preparing to vote on releasing a “highly critical report” based on its findings and are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss what to do with the report.

While the committee’s plans remain up in the air, multiple senators who will be voting on whether Gaetz should be the attorney general have called on it to release its findings, which reportedly include testimony from the minor who was at the center of the DOJ investigation. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin told CBS that the timing of Gaetz’s resignation “raises serious concerns” about what’s in the report, suggesting it “could be relevant to the question of Mr. Gaetz’s confirmation.” Republican senator John Cornyn — who’s said to have snorted out loud when asked about Gaetz’s nomination — agreed that he would “absolutely” like to see “whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.”

A Florida lawyer has offered vivid details about what may be in the House Ethics Committee report.

Florida attorney Joel Leppard, who represents two women who gave testimony to the House Ethics Committee, told ABC News Gaetz paid both his clients for sex via Venmo. Leppard claims that in 2019, Gaetz also paid the women to travel to New York, watch his appearance on Fox News, and see Pretty Woman: The Musical on Broadway — a trip they apparently recounted in detail to the committee.

Leppard also told ABC that one of his clients testified to seeing Gaetz have sex with her then-17-year-old friend at a house party in Florida in July 2017. It sounds a lot like the house party described in 2023 court documents from an entirely different case, which Gaetz attended at the home of his friend lobbyist Chris Dorworth. There, three eyewitnesses recalled seeing a naked teenage girl who appears to be the same minor who was involved in the alleged sex-trafficking scandal. The filings referred to her by her initials, A.B.

A lawsuit with more testimony about Gaetz’s activities has reportedly been hacked.

On Tuesday, Dorworth’s involvement in Gaetz’s potential downfall became even more complicated when a defamation suit he brought against Joel Greenberg (remember him?) and the woman who says she had sex with Gaetz as a minor reportedly got hacked. (Dorworth is somehow pursuing legal action against these two for telling federal authorities about the drug-fueled sex parties he hosted where Gaetz was said to have been present.) According to the New York Times, the hacked file includes testimony from the former minor and a woman who claims to have witnessed her encounter with Gaetz, and is apparently damaging to Gaetz. Whatever’s in it has not been released to the public, and the hacker reportedly has not contacted the lawyers, so their intentions are unclear.

Meanwhile, the Trump camp appears confident that this will all go away. Responding to all the allegations, spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told ABC, “Matt Gaetz will be the next attorney general. He’s the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system.”

This post has been updated.