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Thread: Rep. Matt Gaetz Investigated for Sex Trafficking, Underage Girl

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    Rep. Matt Gaetz Investigated for Sex Trafficking, Underage Girl

    Rep. Matt Gaetz Is Denying He Had A Sexual Relationship With An Underage Girl After Reports That He’s Under Investigation
    Gaetz denied the allegations and claimed they were instead part of a $25 million extortion scheme.


    Last updated on March 30, 2021, at 9:15 p.m. ET

    Posted on March 30, 2021, at 8:29 p.m. ET


    Paul Hennessy / Sipa USA via AP
    Rep. Matt Gaetz, a staunch supporter of former president Donald Trump's and a regular face on conservative cable news, is denying allegations of a possible sexual relationship with an underage girl after the New York Times reported Tuesday that the Florida Republican was under federal investigation.

    Instead, the outspoken and often controversial legislator claimed he was the victim of "an organized criminal extortion" and that his father had been wearing a wire at the FBI's direction "to catch these criminals."

    "No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets [...] of the ongoing extortion investigation," Gaetz wrote in a series of tweets.

    The tweets came after the New York Times reported that the 38-year-old lawmaker was under investigation over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal also reported on the investigation Tuesday night. The Times and the Journal reported that the Justice Department was examining whether Gaetz had violated federal sex trafficking laws.

    Asked by Fox News Tuesday night about the allegations involving a teen girl, Gaetz denied them.

    "The person does not exist. I've not had a relationship with a 17-year-old," he said.

    According to the Times, the encounters occurred two years ago, and Gaetz came under scrutiny during the end of the Trump administration as part of another investigation into a Florida official, Joel Greenberg, who has been indicted on charges that included sex-trafficking a child and financially supporting people in exchange for sex.

    Gaetz appeared on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight Tuesday evening and said he and his family became aware of a federal probe on March 16, when his father was allegedly contacted via text from someone who asked for millions of dollars to make the investigation "go away." The person claimed photos showed Gaetz with child prostitutes, which Gaetz said did not exist.


    Gaetz said the FBI asked his father to wear a wire as part of the investigation into the alleged extortion, which he claimed involved a former Department of Justice official who now works at a prominent law firm in Pensacola, Florida.

    The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BuzzFeed News.

    The congressman said his father was supposed to wear a wire for a meeting with the former DOJ official Wednesday for a "down payment" on what he called a "bribe," but that the meeting was canceled because of the New York Times report.

    "I know there was a demand for money in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away," Gaetz said. "They were promising that [President] Joe Biden would pardon me. I don't need a pardon."

    Gaetz told the Times that his attorneys were in contact with the Justice Department and that he understood that the investigation "has to do with women."

    "I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward," he said.

    He also told Axios that he was "absolutely" confident that none of his previous relationships involved underage girls.

    In tweets, he demanded that the Department of Justice "release the tapes" involving the alleged extortion investigation.

    Gaetz has been a frequent guest on Fox News, where he has repeatedly pushed false claims of massive voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. As a member of Congress, he's mocked mask mandates to curb the pandemic. Moments after a violent mob stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, he claimed the rioters were not Trump supporters but "masquerading as Trump supporters."

    The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to questions from BuzzFeed News.

    BUZZFEED

    Salvador Hernandez is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.

    Contact Salvador Hernandez at salvador.hernandez@buzzfeed.com.
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    Gaetz supposedly has an odd relationship with an adopted "son" named Nestor in his late teens as well. So I guess he plays for both Pedo teams?
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    I'm guessing he has a lot of "miles" to Thailand and the Dominican Republic...

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    "PizzaGaetz"

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    Even ignoring the latest allegations that it seems unlikely would come unless the FBI were super sure of their case, just on the uncontested stuff how the fuck did this guy end up elected to anything?
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    He looks like a creepy car salesman. Oh worse. He’s a politician.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nitro Express View Post
    He looks like a creepy car salesman. Oh worse. He’s a politician.
    He looks like he has a pocket full of roofies just in case...

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    Florida got one thing right. Age of consent there is 18. If he was taking her out of state, he's even more screwed.

    Telling someone you're wearing a wire kind of defeats the purpose of wearing a wire...
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    Quote Originally Posted by twonabomber View Post
    Florida got one thing right. Age of consent there is 18. If he was taking her out of state, he's even more screwed.

    Telling someone you're wearing a wire kind of defeats the purpose of wearing a wire...
    Whole thing is nuts but it looks like his dad wore a wire to try and get evidence that he was innocent.

    "Ok son that's the tape on say something about not wanting to screw teenagers."

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    Just another soap opera. If this guy has done favors for the right people nothing is going to happen to him.

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    For all we know it could be a wrap up smear. A common tactic used in Washington politics.

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    This is a criminal case.

    As a bunch of people attached to the last president discovered, you don't get to choose your own 'truth' or facts in a criminal court although being a rich white guy may reduce any sentence.
    Last edited by Seshmeister; 04-03-2021 at 05:06 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Seshmeister View Post
    ... you don't get to choose your own 'truth' or facts in a criminal court although being a rich white guy may reduce any sentence.
    Yeah, right on both counts.
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    A CNN host is claiming she is getting lots of texts from GOP congressmen that hate Gaetz and they are telling her everything they've heard that this guy did. She said she can't post it because it is hearsay and some is pretty disturbing...

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    If that guy doesn't set off your creep radar you don't have one...

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    I know it's Florida, but he's gotta be fucked after this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post

    I know it's Florida, but he's gotta be fucked after this.
    After that crooked pedophile on the horse only lost by 1% in Alabama I never write off an American politician.

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    You paid for your teenage hookers with a PHONE APP?? Christ, that's even dumber than writing a check!!

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    Apparently, his own staffers would send embarrassing videos of Gaetz being a complete fucking drunk asshole to other GOP congressmen and some Democrats too. This guy is actually more hated than Ted Cruz. I mean that is like world class champion cunt level there...

    He is apparently defending himself in the Washington Shit Rag Times because no one else wants too...
    Last edited by Nickdfresh; 04-06-2021 at 07:58 PM.

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    I'm going to have to check out the Guliani podcast, it looks like it may be unintentionally hilarious...



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    Quote Originally Posted by FORD View Post
    You paid for your teenage hookers with a PHONE APP?? Christ, that's even dumber than writing a check!!
    For the record Springer's hookers were aged 21 and 26.

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    Of course. I was voicing "Jerry's" shock at the method of payment, not the age of the hookers.

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    Breaking overnight:

    Gaetz Paid Accused Sex Trafficker, Who Then Venmo’d Teen

    Jose Pagliery
    Political Investigations Reporter
    Roger Sollenberger
    Political Reporter
    Updated Apr. 08, 2021 9:19PM ET / Published Apr. 08, 2021 7:39PM ET

    EXCLUSIVE
    Seminole County, Getty
    In two late-night Venmo transactions in May 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz sent his friend, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg, $900. The next morning, over the course of eight minutes, Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900.

    The memo field for the first of Gaetz’s transactions to Greenberg was titled “Test.” In the second, the Florida GOP congressman wrote “hit up ___.” But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients. (The Daily Beast is not sharing that nickname because the teenager had only turned 18 less than six months before.) When Greenberg then made his Venmo payments to these three young women, he described the money as being for “Tuition,” “School,” and “School.”

    The Daily Beast examined these records as a scandal, rooted in a criminal case against Greenberg, engulfs Gaetz.

    The Strange Friendship That May Bring Down Matt Gaetz
    FLORIDA MEN
    Jose Pagliery,
    Roger Sollenberger

    Greenberg—the former Seminole County tax collector—has now been federally indicted on 33 counts, including sex trafficking crimes involving a 17-year-old. Court documents say Greenberg was “engaged in ‘sugar daddy’ relationships.” And The New York Times says a Justice Department investigation is looking into Gaetz’s involvement in the cash-for-sex ring.

    Gaetz and Greenberg are both connected through Venmo to this then-18-year-old woman—who now works in the porn industry, according to a friend of the girl. And on Thursday, Greenberg’s attorney and prosecutors indicated during a court hearing that they expect Greenberg to strike a plea deal, likely meaning he plans to cooperate with investigators.

    That could be potentially disastrous for Gaetz, as investigators look into the connections between these two men. And one particularly damning connection is their financial transactions.

    This week, during the reporting of this story, Gaetz’s once-public list of Venmo transactions disappeared. Greenberg’s Venmo account is not currently publicly accessible. But The Daily Beast was able to obtain partial records of Greenberg’s past online transactions through a source.

    Greenberg and Gaetz are also connected on Venmo to at least one other woman that Greenberg paid with taxpayer funds using a government-issued credit card. Seminole County auditors flagged hundreds of those payments as “questioned or unaccounted for,” and in total found more than $300,000 in suspicious or unjustified expenses. The Daily Beast was able to obtain that credit card data through a public records request.

    “No one has any idea what he was doing. Zero,” said Daniel J. O'Keefe, an accountant who conducted a forensic audit for the county. “The arrogance of these guys. They just felt they were above the law. I've never seen it this bad.”

    O’Keefe was particularly puzzled by weekend expenses, hotels, unspecified high-dollar “consulting” fees, and cash advances that Greenberg made to himself and others. The Daily Beast has compared Greenberg’s credit card statements and Venmo transactions to Gaetz’s expenses and travel records—compiled through campaign finance reports, Instagram posts, and Venmo—and found that, in some key places, the two timelines and circles of contact overlap.

    Gaetz and Greenberg share Venmo connections with at least two women who received payments from Greenberg, and both have professional relationships with each other.

    In 2018, Greenberg also paid another woman, a mutual friend of Gaetz's, several thousand dollars using his taxpayer-backed Seminole County-issued Wells Fargo Visa card, according to county financial records obtained by The Daily Beast. Auditors flagged the transactions, saying that, despite having a contract and invoice from the company, they “do not know what it was for.”

    Last week, The New York Times reported that the Justice Department was investigating Gaetz for allegedly paying for a 17-year-old girl to travel with him across state lines and inducing her to have sex—an act that would violate federal child sex trafficking laws. The investigation reportedly dates back to last summer, when it sprung from the ongoing Greenberg probe. According to the Times, the two men reportedly had sex with and trafficked the same 17-year-old girl.

    The three-term Republican has acknowledged the existence of the investigation but denies the allegations. He told The Daily Beast in a late-night March 31 text message that, “The last time I had a sexual relationship with a seventeen year old, I was seventeen.” And in an op-ed in the conservative-leaning Washington Examiner last weekend, Gaetz claimed that he “never, ever paid women for sex.”

    Matt Gaetz Said Travel Records Would Clear Him. Not So Fast.
    MO’ MONEY, MO’ PROBLEMS
    Roger Sollenberger

    Gaetz has not been charged with a crime, and Gaetz’s congressional office declined to comment directly for this story.

    Instead, a representative from an outside public relations firm, the Logan Circle Group, responded with this statement from Gaetz: "The rumors, gossip and self-serving misstatements of others will be addressed in due course by my legal team."

    Logan Circle's Erin Elmore—a pro-Trump pundit and former contestant on The Apprentice—added that a lawyer would be "closely monitoring your coverage."

    Also cc'd on the email was another Logan Circle Group employee: Harlan Hill, who was banned from Fox News after calling now-Vice President Kamala Harris "an insufferable lying bitch."

    Greenberg’s defense attorney, Fritz Scheller, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But during a press conference after a hearing for the case, Scheller offered that the Florida congressman would probably not welcome the news that Greenberg was taking a plea deal.

    “I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Scheller said.

    —Updated with comment from Gaetz.

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    Bombshell Letter: Gaetz Paid for Sex With Minor, Wingman Says
    Jose Pagliery
    Thu, April 29, 2021, 8:30 PM

    A confession letter written by Joel Greenberg in the final months of the Trump presidency claims that he and close associate Rep. Matt Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women—as well as a girl who was 17 at the time.

    “On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself,” Greenberg wrote in reference to the 17-year-old.

    “From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.”

    The letter, which The Daily Beast recently obtained, was written after Greenberg—who was under federal indictment—asked Roger Stone to help him secure a pardon from then-President Donald Trump.

    A series of private messages starting in late 2020—also recently obtained by The Daily Beast—shows a number of exchanges between Greenberg and Stone conducted over the encrypted-messaging app Signal, with communications set to disappear. However, Greenberg appears to have taken screenshots of a number of their conversations.

    “If I get you $250k in Bitcoin would that help or is this not a financial matter,” Greenberg wrote to Stone, one message shows.

    “I understand all of this and have taken it into consideration,” Stone replied. “I will know more in the next 24 hours I cannot push too hard because of the nonsense surrounding pardons.”

    “I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident,” Stone wrote to Greenberg on Jan. 13.

    In a text message to The Daily Beast, Stone said that Greenberg had tried to hire him to assist with a pardon, but he denied asking for or receiving payment or interceding on his behalf. He did, however, confirm he had Greenberg prepare “a document explaining his prosecution.”

    In the private text messages to Stone, Greenberg described his activities with Gaetz, repeatedly referring to the Republican congressman by his initials, “MG,” or as “Matt.”

    “My lawyers that I fired, know the whole story about MG’s involvement,” Greenberg wrote to Stone on Dec. 21. “They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage.”

    As part of the effort to obtain a pardon, Greenberg wrote multiple drafts of his confession letter. The Daily Beast obtained two typed versions and an earlier handwritten one. Certified forensic document examiner and handwriting expert Wendy Carlson compared the letter to writing samples obtained through two public-records requests. She said it was her professional expert opinion that the person who authored a 2019 financial disclosure for Joel Greenberg, as well as Greenberg’s 2020 Board of Elections form, was the same as the author of the letter.

    “The person who authored the forms has been identified as the person who authored the letter,” Carlson said.

    The Crazy Case of Gaetz Wingman’s Fraudulent COVID Relief Loans

    In those letters, Greenberg detailed his relationship with Gaetz. He confessed to paying young women for sex. And he claimed that he, Gaetz, and others had sex with a minor they believed to be 19 at the time. Greenberg said he learned she was underage on Sept. 4, 2017, from “an anonymous tip” and quickly contacted Gaetz.

    “Immediately I called the congressman and warned him to stay clear of this person and informed him she was underage,” Greenberg wrote. “He was equally shocked and disturbed by this revelation.”

    Greenberg continued in the handwritten draft that he “confronted” the then-17-year-old and explained to her “how serious of a situation this was, how many people she put in danger.”

    “She apologized and recognized that by lying about her age, she endangered many people,” he continued. “There was no further contact with this individual until after her 18th birthday.”

    But after she reached the age of legal consent in Florida, Greenberg re-established contact. As The Daily Beast previously reported, about five months after her 18th birthday, Gaetz sent Greenberg $900 in two Venmo transactions—one titled “Test” and the other titled “hit up ___.” The blank contained a nickname for this girl, and Greenberg paid her and two other women a total of $900 about six hours later.

    In his confession letter, Greenberg also admitted he facilitated Gaetz’s interactions with college students—and paid them on his behalf.

    “All of the girls were in college or post college and it was not uncommon for either myself or the Congressman to help anyone [sic] of these girls financially, whether it was a car payment, a flight home to see their family or something as simple as helping pay a speeding ticket,” Greenberg wrote.

    A partial record of Greenberg’s Venmo and Cash App transactions suggests that payments were usually for a lot more than “gas money.” The Daily Beast identified more than 150 Venmo payments from Greenberg to women, as well as more than 70 additional payments on the Cash App, that were generally between $300 and $500—though some exceeded $1,000. The Daily Beast also talked to 12 of the more than 40 different women who received money, and they all said they understood Greenberg was paying them at least in part for sex.

    Greenberg, a disgraced local politician in Florida, currently faces a sweeping 33-count indictment that ranges from stalking to sex trafficking. In March, The New York Times revealed that the initial investigation into the Seminole County tax official expanded as agents looked into his role in arranging paid sexual encounters for his friend Matt Gaetz.

    Federal prosecutors have not criminally charged Gaetz—or even publicly confirmed the expansion of their probe. While Gaetz acknowledges the existence of the investigation, he denies having sex with an underage teen. But at some point, Greenberg began to cooperate with investigators, a development his lawyer has suggested poses a serious problem for Gaetz.

    That defense lawyer, Fritz Scheller, declined to comment for this story, citing attorney-client privilege.

    Gaetz’s office did not respond. However, Logan Circle Group, an outside public-relations firm Gaetz has hired, sent the following statement:

    “Congressman Gaetz has never paid for sex nor has he had sex with a 17 year old as an adult. We are now one month after your outlet and others first reported such lies, and no one has gone on record to directly accuse him of either. Politico, however, has reported Mr. Greenberg threatening to make false accusations against others, which seems noteworthy for your story and in fact sounds like the entirety of your story. Congressman Gaetz has had no role in advocating for or against a pardon for Greenberg and doubts such a pardon was ever even considered.”

    The Politico article referred to in the statement does not say Greenberg was threatening to make false accusations against others, but does say that an associate claimed Greenberg had warned friends that “everyone is going to need a lawyer.”

    Neither the U.S. Secret Service nor federal prosecutors with the Middle District of Florida would provide comment for this article either, citing a policy of not confirming or denying the existence of an ongoing investigation.

    In the final months of the Trump presidency, Greenberg and Stone exchanged several texts about a pardon over the encrypted-messaging app Signal. While images show that the pair frequently set messages to automatically delete, Greenberg regularly took screenshots of their communications.

    Stone, who received a presidential commutation last July but at the time had not yet been pardoned, communicated with Greenberg for months about the latter’s desire for a pardon.

    The messages show that in November, the pair discussed putting together a “document,” which later took the form of a confession letter and background missive about all the ways in which Greenberg had been loyal to Trump. In their early conversations, Greenberg told Stone that the letter was “about 8-10 pages” and asked if it should be shortened.

    “No,” Stone replied, “use as much space as you need to tell the story fully but be certain to include your leader ship [sic] for Trump prominently.”

    Greenberg almost immediately responded that he had “killed” himself for Trump. “And I’ve killed my self [sic] for Matt,” he said.

    The letter went through multiple drafts and detailed Greenberg’s encounters with Gaetz, but it also focused on Greenberg’s early support of Trump’s run in 2016, such as posting a “Super Trump” highway billboard on Interstate 4. (A version of the letter actually includes the image Greenberg used for the billboard.)

    On Nov. 20, 2020, Stone told Greenberg he had received “the document” and would show it to the team that “got me my commutation.”

    “I will review it with them and give you a budget. This is very doable and the time is now,” Stone wrote.

    An update from Stone came just after midnight on Dec. 8: “Your thing is being looked at and I will have an answer by Saturday as to whether you have a viable shot for justice and how to go about it.”

    “Thank you so much Roger,” Greenberg replied. “I am very thankful for you. I pray that the Lord will help. I remain optimistic and will wait to hear back from you.”

    Stone quickly sought to dampen expectations surrounding “the whole pardon circus.”

    “This is treacherous territory with a lot of different players such as Jared and Giuliani playing a hand,” Stone wrote, presumably referring to Trump adviser Jared Kushner and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. “I have two things I’m trying to get done. Sit tight.”

    On Dec. 21, Greenberg told Stone that government investigators were pressing him to cooperate. “The FBI, DOJ, Secret Service and a bunch of people from DC have repeatedly made attempts to meet with my [sic] lately. I have declined. But they are definitely ramping up pressure.”

    “They want me to flip,” he continued. “They have made offers which I’ve declined. I even fired my lawyers this week because they tried to convince me to cooperate and that a pardon was impossible.”

    Greenberg then revealed to Stone that his former lawyers were aware of the “whole story” regarding Matt Gaetz’s role.

    “My lawyers that I fired, know the whole story about MG’s involvement. They know he paid me to pay the girls and that he and I both had sex with the girl who was underage. So naturally they think that is my golden ticket,” Greenberg wrote.

    “And while I have not had any communication with MG, he absolutely has to know that the sex charge they hit me with would be what they would hit him with,” Greenberg continued.

    A distressed Greenberg told Stone that he felt “abandoned" by his allies, but emphasized that Gaetz—who was “like a son” to the president of the United States—could save him: “One conversation with POTUS and he can get this done and it all goes away.”

    Greenberg said that while he had discussed pardons with Gaetz’s lawyer, he had not heard a reply and would “have to do what’s best for me and my family” after Trump left office.

    “You think MG is going to come visit me in prison?” he said, then proposed the $250,000 bitcoin deposit.

    Stone replied that he had considered those points, but “cannot push too hard because of the nonsense surrounding pardons.”

    As Trump neared his final days in office, he signaled an intent to issue a wave of pardons, and reports at the time suggested legal reprieve could be had for the right price. Stone communicated with Greenberg about his efforts to navigate the heavy traffic of pardon-seekers.

    On Dec. 23, Trump pardoned Stone for the crimes from his 2019 conviction. The next day, on Christmas Eve, Stone acknowledged to Greenberg that he was having difficulty with the Gaetz dimension.

    “It is hard for me to understand why MG would do nothing[.] Yes he is potentially damaged if the matter goes forward,” Stone wrote. The three men—Greenberg, Stone, and Gaetz—all shared a friendship dating back several years, and Stone apparently couldn’t figure out why Gaetz wouldn’t help Greenberg get a pardon.

    But on the morning of Jan. 13, Greenberg received this text from Stone: “Today is the day. We will know by the end of the day. I think you sent me some document but it disappeared. I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident.”

    There was only a week left in the Trump presidency. It’s unclear if money was ever exchanged, but Greenberg offered to pay extra if Stone could, in fact, get him a pardon.“If you can get this done today I’ll add another 50k,” Greenberg texted Stone.

    In a subsequent message, Stone wrote that White House lawyer Pat Cipollone had taken Greenberg’s name out of the list of hundreds of people who might be pardoned. Cipollone didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment Thursday, but according to three people familiar with the matter, Greenberg’s name repeatedly made it to the Trump White House for a presidential pardon. The Daily Beast was shown an image of one such list, and Greenberg’s name and a favorable mini-profile were indeed included.

    Administration officials swiftly shot down Greenberg’s application, however, and several senior White House officials at the time said they were not even aware that Stone was involved in a behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

    But as Stone explained it in a Jan. 30 text—a full 10 days after Trump left office—Gaetz was partly to blame.

    “What I don’t understand is why MJ would not help me at all and actually told me not to help you which I tried to do anyway. In the end it would not have mattered. Cipollone killed everything we wanted to get done and that includes stuff MG wanted,” Stone wrote, immediately clarifying that “MJ” was a typo and that he meant “MG.”

    “Ok. He actually said not to help me? Wow,” Greenberg replied.

    “If you repeat it you’re really going to hurt me,” Stone warned.

    “I won’t Roger. I don’t and haven’t talked to him. I won’t,” Greenberg said.

    Stone acknowledged Thursday night that there may be “copies of correspondence between me and Mr. Greenberg,” but he questioned whether they were complete, unedited, or accurate.

    “I made no formal or informal effort in regard to a pardon for Mr. Greenberg,” Stone said. “I recall requesting a document explaining his prosecution The [sic] details of which I was unfamiliar with.”

    “I never requested or received a penny from Mr. Greenberg,” he added. “I recall him offering to retain me and I declined. To be clear I did advocate pardons for a number of people who I had [sic] been unfairly treated by the justice system and was compensated by no one for doing so.”

    “Urge you to be very careful,” Stone said at the end of his text. “I will take any appropriate legal action in the event that you publish anything that is false or defamatory. Sounds to me like you have been presented some kind of cut and paste record.”

    —With additional reporting by Asawin Suebsaeng and Matt Fuller

    YAHOO LINK

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    It would be great if they could link Roger Stone to this and put his ass back in prison where it belongs. With no Orange Imbecile to pardon him this time.

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    Who wants a 6", sub...

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  39. Thanked FORD for this KICKASS post:

    Terry (05-31-2021)


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    Gaetz associate pleads guilty to 6 federal crimes, including sex trafficking a teen




    politico.com
    Gaetz associate pleads guilty to 6 federal crimes, including sex trafficking a teen
    Marc Caputo
    8-10 minutes

    Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector, pleaded guilty to six criminal counts in a case that sparked a federal investigation into whether Gaetz paid girls for sex. | Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A former friend and ally of Rep. Matt Gaetz formally pleaded guilty Monday to multiple federal charges, including sex trafficking a minor, ID theft, stalking and fraud, bringing his broad crime spree to an end and officially marking a new chapter in the investigation of the embattled congressman.

    Joel Greenberg, who had served as a locally elected tax collector in Central Florida’s Seminole County, had to resign his post last year after he was hit with the first of three indictments that eventually totaled 33 federal charges, but prosecutors agreed to pare those back in order to secure his cooperation.

    Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing ever since word leaked in March that federal investigators were looking into whether the Florida congressman had sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has not been charged with any crime.

    “Joel Greenberg has now confessed to falsely accusing an innocent man of having sex with a minor,” said Harlan Hill, a Gaetz spokesperson.

    The Republican lawmaker previously had said that it’s Greenberg who has admitted to the crime, is trying to escape a lengthy prison sentence and has also pleaded guilty to falsely accusing a political rival of being a pedophile.

    The 84-page plea agreement Greenberg formally signed off on in U.S. District Court does not mention Gaetz or any one else by name. But it states that the victim of the sex trafficking had sex with “other men” while she was 17. Aside from Gaetz, sources close to the investigation say prosecutors are also examining a former employee of Greenberg’s in Seminole County office, a co-conspirator of Greenberg’s who allegedly was involved in defrauding a coronavirus relief fund and at least one associate of Gaetz’s. The unindicted co-conspirator is mentioned but not named in one of the federal charging documents against Greenberg.

    But it’s Gaetz who prosecutors with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section are looking into. The division of the Justice Department is dedicated to prosecuting corrupt public officials.

    David Oscar Markus, a veteran federal defense attorney not connected to Greenberg’s case, said that while it’s clear from news reports that authorities are investigating whether Gaetz is involved in sex trafficking of a minor, the plea agreement has very few details about it, which he suspects is due to a lack of clear and irrefutable evidence from Greenberg directly implicating Gaetz in the crime. Gaetz, for example, is not mentioned by name Greenberg’s plea agreement.

    Also, while Greenberg appeared to get a break from prosecutors by only pleading to six of 33 charges, he’s still facing the mandatory minimum prison sentence of 12 years.

    “He’s looking at so much time that the only reason you would plead guilty to something like this because A, you have absolutely no defense or B, you’re looking for the reduction in sentence of the century,” Marcus said.

    In a sign that Greenberg’s cooperation is likely not enough to make a case against Gaetz, federal prosecutors are in talks for an immunity deal with his former girlfriend that seeks her cooperation. She has not spoken personally to investigators and her lawyer, Tim Jansen, has refused comment about what she would have to say, if anything, about any alleged crimes of the congressman.

    The victim’s testimony would also be crucial and one source familiar with the investigation previously said that she’s “100 percent” talking to prosecutors, but the nature of that testimony is unclear.

    What makes Greenberg’s case so unusual is the scope of crimes he committed and pleaded guilty to, making him one of the most corrupt Florida politicians of all time. In all, there are five different categories of crimes Greenberg pleaded guilty to that are found in different sections of federal law: sex-trafficking a minor, stalking, identity theft, fraud of federal taxpayers and ripping off local taxpayers in a cryptocurrency scheme.

    The plea agreement was so long that the federal magistrate judge on Monday had to pause at times to flip through the pages repeatedly to find the right section of the agreement, with the sound of shuffling papers filling amplified in the microphones in the hushed courtroom, which had a socially distanced crowd due to coronavirus social-distancing rules.

    Greenberg, a blue surgical mask on his face, answered in clipped responses to the questions in admitting his guilt: yes, no, I do. The hearing took about 45 minutes.

    Greenberg first met the sex-trafficking victim on a website for “sugar babies” seeking “sugar daddies,” according to the plea agreement, confirming an earlier POLITICO report concerning the website, SeekingArrangement. According to the plea, Greenberg paid her explicitly for sex at least seven times after meeting her on April 24, 2017.

    On Sept. 4 of that year, Greenberg illegally accessed her driver license records after she told him she was underage. Three sources tell POLITICO that the victim had falsely advertised herself as 19 years old on the SeekingArrangement website. Under the federal statute, a person who pays for sex with anyone under 18 cannot raise the defense that he believed she was of age, even if she produced a fake ID, according to attorneys familiar with the law.

    Greenberg, who paid a total of $70,000 for sex with different women he met through the website, insisted they take the drug MDMA with him and would pay them extra for it, the plea agreement says.

    Greenberg told others that the victim was underage and said no one had sexual relations with her after the date he accessed her ID. But during that four month and 11-day period, others are suspected of having sex with her when she was a minor — a small window of time for prosecutors to find illegal activity from Gaetz or others.

    After his arrest, Greenberg tried to get the victim to lie, the plea says.

    “Greenberg contacted the Minor, directly and through one of the Minor's friends, for the purpose of asking the Minor to lie and say that the reason why Greenberg looked the Minor up in the [driver license] system was because the Minor had asked him to do that, which, as Greenberg knew, was not true,” the plea said. “Greenberg also asked the Minor for help in making sure that their stories would line up, because he knew that his commercial sex acts with her were illegal.”

    The political rival whom Greenberg falsely accused of being a pedophile, a teacher named Brian Beute, held a press conference before the plea hearing on the Orlando federal courthouse steps where he thanked the federal government and an investigator with the local sheriff’s department. But he faulted local prosecutors and state officials for not acting sooner to investigate and charge Greenberg for a host of other improprieties and crimes that became clear almost as soon as he assumed office in early 2017.

    “The state of Florida’s oversight system was either complicit with or failed to monitor the Seminole County tax collector’s office. Why? Who is responsible for this failure,” said Beute, who Greenberg falsely accused immediately after Beute announced his bid in 2019 to take out his fellow Republican.

    Under the terms of his plea, Greenberg will be required to register as a sex offender — a remarkable turn of events just two years after he accused Beute of having sex with girls.

    Asked if he thought Greenberg was a liar, Beute demurred, saying he doesn’t know the man. Asked again about Greenberg’s trustworthiness, he didn’t budge much.

    “We’re here today,” he said. “Why are we here today?”

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    Gaetz Snorted Coke With Escort Who Had ‘No Show’ Gov’t Job

    thedailybeast.com
    Rep. Matt Gaetz Snorted Cocaine With Megan Zalonka, Escort Who Had ‘No Show’ Gov’t Job
    Jose Pagliery, Roger Sollenberger
    10-12 minutes

    When Rep. Matt Gaetz attended a 2019 GOP fundraiser in Orlando, his date that night was someone he knew well: a paid escort and amateur Instagram model who led a cocaine-fueled party after the event, according to two witnesses.

    The Florida congressman’s one-time wingman, Joel Greenberg, will identify that escort to investigators as one of more than 15 young women Gaetz paid for sex, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

    But what distinguishes this woman, Megan Zalonka, is that she turned her relationship with Greenberg into a taxpayer-funded no-show job that earned her an estimated $7,000 to $17,500, according to three sources and corresponding government records obtained by The Daily Beast.

    On Oct. 26, 2019, Gaetz attended the “Trump Defender Gala” fundraiser as the featured speaker at the Westgate Lake Resort in Orlando. Two witnesses present recalled friends reconvening at Gaetz’s hotel room for an after-party, where Zalonka prepared lines of cocaine on the bathroom counter. One of those witnesses distinctly remembers Zalonka pulling the drugs out of her makeup bag, rolling a bill of cash, and joining Gaetz in snorting the cocaine.

    While The Daily Beast could not confirm that Gaetz and Zalonka had sex that night, two sources said the pair had an ongoing financial relationship in exchange for sex. "She was just one of the many pieces of arm candy he had,” said one source familiar with the encounters between Gaetz and Zalonka.

    The congressman—who has declared that he “never paid for sex”—wrote off the stay at the hotel as a campaign expense, with his donors picking up the tab.



    The U.S. Secret Service, which initiated the Greenberg investigation over allegations that Greenberg used county resources to mine Bitcoin, would not comment on the ongoing probe. Federal prosecutors with the Middle District of Florida would not say if investigators have questioned Zalonka. Greenberg’s attorney declined comment, citing attorney-client privilege.

    Gaetz’s office did not respond to a request for comment. However, his hired public relations firm, Logan Circle Group, did issue this statement: “Congressman Gaetz won’t be commenting on whether he dated or didn’t date specific women. The privacy of women living private lives should be protected.” Harlan Hill, the president of that firm, did not address questions about cocaine, the party, or the fundraiser.

    After repeated calls and messages to Zalonka over the last five weeks, her attorney told The Daily Beast on Thursday night that she “is not speaking to any media outlet.” Mark J. O’Brien, a criminal defense lawyer, said the allegations were not “accurate” but would not elaborate further. He did not respond to a list of detailed questions about the fundraiser party, Zalonka’s county contract, or her relationships with Greenberg and the congressman.

    Federal investigators are exploring Greenberg’s alleged role as the congressman’s go-to contact for arranging paid sexual encounters, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the probe. Greenberg is slated to plead guilty on Monday to six felonies and is expected to cooperate as a witness against his former friend.

    Zalonka, who is an amateur fashion model and the communications director for the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association, received $4,000 on Venmo from Greenberg during his first year in office in 2017—mostly in $500 installments. And Greenberg, who is married, listed various explanations for why he paid Zalonka. In the memo fields of his Venmo payments, he paid her $500 for “Stuff,” another $500 for “Orher stuff” [sic], and $1,000 for “Pool.” On a single day in November, he paid her $500 for “Food” and another $500 for “Appetizers.”

    But Zalonka’s interactions with Greenberg in 2017 morphed into a business relationship with the air of legitimacy. In December of that year, she was in close communication with him as she created her own company, MZ Strategy Group LLC, according to emails between Greenberg and Zalonka that were viewed by The Daily Beast. The next month, Greenberg awarded her a county contract, agreeing to pay her $3,500 a month for “management of digital content” and “production of social media engagements.”

    Zalonka’s firm received $3,500 installments in Seminole County taxpayer funds in January and April 2018, according to an analysis of Greenberg's government spending obtained via a public records request. Those payments would later be flagged as a “questioned or unaccounted for purchase” by county-contracted auditors with the Florida forensic accounting firm MSL. Even the tax office’s own chief financial officer, who processed the payments, noted in her reports: “do not know what it was for.”

    Auditors flagged other $3,500 installments in February, March, and May of that year, in the form of suspicious cash advances directly to Greenberg—but Greenberg never specified the purpose of those withdrawals. The charges appear to have ceased after that point.

    “Totally a no-show job... There's no work product, no evidence work was done. It's just unbelievable.”

    — Daniel O’Keefe, accountant

    Four people familiar with Zalonka’s arrangement said it was a “no-show” contract. Zalonka never worked at the office, and it was unclear what service she provided, they said. Accountant Daniel J. O'Keefe, who led the forensic audit of Greenberg’s alleged self-dealing, said tax collector employees told him the woman behind the company was a mystery. O’Keefe added that he found no proof Zalonka ever provided the services itemized in her contract with Greenberg.

    “I have no idea what they were doing. And employees wouldn't know what they were doing. Totally a no-show job,” O’Keefe said. “There's no work product, no evidence work was done. It's just unbelievable.”

    Zalonka also features prominently in a tranche of Greenberg’s Venmo transactions, which include his payments to more than 40 women. Those women received hundreds of dollars at a time for memo items such as “salad,” “lemons,” and “ass,” according to financial records. The Daily Beast spoke to 12 of those women, who all said the payments were at least in part because Greenberg intended to have sex with them.

    Three young women paid by Greenberg, who spoke to The Daily Beast under condition of anonymity, placed Zalonka in the room during a 2018 encounter at the Duval Hotel in Tallahassee.

    One of the women—all of them 19-year-old students attending nearby Florida State University at the time—said Greenberg and a number of “well-connected Republican men” bought them drinks at the hotel bar, knowing how old the students were, then led them to a room furnished with “a huge pile of coke.” The men wanted to have sex with the teens and implied that Zalonka, who was in the room, would join in, one of the women recalled. When the teens refused, Greenberg, Zalonka, and another man went into a connected room to have sex, according to one of the former students and screenshots of a conversation between the three women reviewed by The Daily Beast.

    Zalonka had signed her marketing contract weeks before the encounter, and financial records show that Greenberg paid for a flight to Tallahassee with Seminole County taxpayer money around that time.


    Zalonka’s interactions with Greenberg’s circle extended to Gaetz as well. In mid-2018, Zalonka became a spokesperson for the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association (AMMPA), a cannabis legalization group with close ties to Gaetz. The congressman was feted as a guest of honor at two of its conferences in 2018, and attended the previous year’s annual conference in October. The 2017 conference, which Greenberg also attended, featured Republican operative and Trump loyalist Roger Stone, who appeared at a Gaetz fundraiser after the congressman’s keynote speech. That day, Oct. 5, Greenberg used Venmo to send Zalonka $500 around midday—for “Rent.”

    Other AMMPA officials have close ties to Gaetz and Greenberg. In Gaetz’s book, Firebrand, published last September, the congressman singles out executive director Savara Hastings and her boyfriend, AMMPA chairman Jason Pirozzolo, as some of his “best friends.” Gaetz also says he has spent New Years Eve with the couple in the Florida Keys, and he has posted Instagram pictures featuring Hastings in Pirozzolo’s private plane as far back as 2014.

    Investigators with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity division are now examining Gaetz’s interactions with young women and cannabis industry contacts, CNN reported, as part of a probe into whether Gaetz was provided with sex from escorts in exchange for political favors. The sprawling criminal inquiry that originated with Greenberg has since morphed into an investigation into Gaetz’s role in an alleged prostitution ring that includes potential sex crimes with a 17-year-old girl.

    The probe could soon have a valuable new asset if Greenberg finalizes a cooperation agreement that could turn him into a government witness against Gaetz and others. While Greenberg was out on release during his final months of the Trump administration, he wrote a confession letter that said he saw acts “occur first hand” involving Gaetz and the underage teen.

    However, Gaetz has not been charged with a crime, and the government has not publicly acknowledged a case against him. Gaetz has also denied all charges, and told The Daily Beast on March 31 that the last time he had sex with a 17-year-old, he was 17 himself.

    In August 2020, the month federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against Greenberg to include the sex trafficking charges, Zalonka received a grand jury subpoena, according to news reports, as well as a person with knowledge of the subpoena. In a Facebook post the next month, AMMPA canceled its annual October conference for the first time, citing concerns related to COVID. The group hasn’t posted since.

    Gaetz, however, continued to engage with Zalonka online. As recently as March 11, he commented “Smiling ninjas!” on an Instagram photo of Zalonka. After The Daily Beast published its first report about Greenberg’s mysterious Venmo transactions, Zalonka made her Instagram private. In recent weeks, her account appears to have vanished entirely.

  42. #39
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    He's 50 shades of fucked....

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    He looks like the typical US Congressman to me. Don’t they all do drugs and bang underaged girls and boys? You have to have politicians with some dirt in order to control them. A clean puppet is a useless puppet. If you prosecuted for insider trading the whole congress would go to jail.

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