Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, ex-Rep. Matt Gaetzallegedly paid for two women to travel to New York in 2019 to have sex, to watch his appearance on Fox News and to attend the Broadway show “Pretty Woman,” an attorney for the women told ABC News.
In an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang, Florida attorney Joel Leppard revealed new details about his clients’ closed-door testimony before the private bipartisan committee, including that his clients told congressional investigators that Gaetz paid them to travel across state lines. . to have sex at least twice.
The attorney also said the women provided the commission with text messages they allegedly exchanged with Gaetz about obtaining drugs and payments that the attorney said were, in part, for sex.
Gaetz, who was selected by President-elect Donald Trump last week to be his attorney general, has denied wrongdoing. Department of Justice Gaetz refused to pay after a long year of accusations last year, and members of the House Ethics Committee are considering releasing a report summarizing the findings of their investigation into Gaetz, who resigned from Congress following Trump’s announcement.
“Matt Gaetz is going to be the next attorney general. He’s the right man for the job and he’s going to end the weaponization of our justice system,” Trump’s transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told ABC News about all the allegations involving Gaetz.
“These are baseless allegations that seek to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing,” Pfeiffer said of the allegations and the DOJ’s decision not to press charges as the Justice Department began investigating. The first Trump administration.
Leppard described the trip to New York to ABC News, which he says his clients testified to have been paid for by Gaetz in January 2019.
Republican Representative Matt Gaetz speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in Henderson, Nevada, on October 31, 2024.
Mike Blake/Reuters, FILE
“They testified that they met with Matt Gaetz for a Fox News appearance in New York in January 2019 … Mr. Gates paid for their tickets to come to New York for the trip,” Leppard told Chang. “They asked them to go have sex with Rep. Gaetz, and then go out and see a show that they wanted to see that night. So basically, take care of things, and then they could have fun. .”
According to Leppard, his clients told the Ethics Commission that Gaetz paid to travel to New York for sex in January 2019, a trip during which the then-congressman appeared on Fox News’ “Outnumbered.”
Gaetz — who was allegedly already in New York with another woman — brought the women to visit the Fox News studios, have dinner and watch the play “Pretty Woman,” a show about a wealthy businessman who falls in love. prostitute, said the lawyer.
ABC News independently confirmed that Gaetz appeared in the Fox News studio on January 4, 2019. The attorney said that one day his clients testified that they had spent time with Gaetz and that the show “Pretty Woman” was on Broadway at the time.
“Their testimony is that Deputy Gaetz took them across state lines for the purpose of having sex and paid them for it?” Chang asked.
“That’s right,” Leppard replied.
Summarizing what his clients told the House Ethics Committee, Leppard told ABC News that Gaetz had sex with his clients — who were adults at the time — on approximately 10 to 15 occasions, mostly at drug-fueled parties or smaller occasions. They took trips to New York or the Bahamas, and were often paid by congressmen for sex.
“They declared to the police that this was their understanding of the payments, that’s why they were there, to have fun, to have fun, to be free and to have sex with the gentlemen who were there, including deputy Gaetz. ” said Leppard.
According to Leppard, the men who attended the parties were between 30 and 50 years old, while the women were between 19 and 21 years old.
“Both of my clients testified that they had sex with Deputy Gaetz and that the payments they received from him were, in part, for sexual favors,” Leppard said.
Leppard detailed that his clients testified that Gaetz also paid them to travel to the Bahamas with other young women, including the woman who alleged the then-congressman had sex. when he was a minor.
“It was a vacation to the Bahamas, and they were my clients, a former juvenile, as well as a couple of other women, and of course the gentleman was there,” Leppard said, referring to the former 17-year-old. He was over 18 at the time of the trip to the Bahamas.
Sources previously told ABC News that the Bahamas trip was part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz, which ultimately did not result in charges against the congressman.
“The trip itself was declared as payment to Congress,” Leppard said, clarifying that his client did not receive any monetary compensation beyond the travel and expenses incurred on the trip.
According to Leppard, the years-long relationship with Gaetz has continued to weigh on his clients, who believe the information they have provided during hours of testimony in multiple investigations should be revealed.
Leppard told the House panel how the two women have spent years in counseling — paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation — after the investigation.
“The House asked, ‘Do you think you’re a victim of Matt Gaetz?'” Leppard said. “My client paused and said, ‘That’s a hard question for me to ask,’ and then she started crying, and she basically said He was going through counseling.”
“My clients have been receiving FBI paid consulting services for years,” Leppard said.
Leppard added that his clients’ sexual relations with Gaetz were fully consensual and that they voluntarily participated in the parties.
“They testified that everything they did was consensual, that they were never forced to do anything,” Leppard said. “They testified that drugs sometimes impaired their judgement, and that they were expected to take drugs, but then they were never forced to take drugs, but that drugs made it easier for them to do what they did.”
Leppard said his clients — one of whom was a student at the time — decided to go to parties where they had sex with Gaetz and others to make enough money to pay rent.
“It was a situation where they were literally saying, ‘Hey, I have to pay rent this month. Let’s go and go to some of these events,’ and ‘Here’s how we’re going to pay the rent.’
Leppard also said his clients turned over text messages to the House Ethics Committee and reviewed Venmo records, which Gaetz said documented alleged payments for sex and coded requests for illegal drugs, including marijuana and MDMA, from Gaetz and his contemporaneous Joel Greenberg. which was mentioned by posts as “vitamins” or “party favors”.
“The partygoers, of course, meant MDMA or Molly, which was consumed at each of these events,” Leppard said.
“(Gaetz) would ask using terms like ‘vitamins,’ or his favorite word was ‘party favors.’ So he might say, ‘Who’s bringing the party favors’ … or ‘Make sure we have the party favors,'” the lawyer said. .
Greenberg is serving an 11-year prison sentence reach an agreement With prosecutors in May 2021, he pleaded guilty to several federal crimes, including sex trafficking of a woman when she was a minor and other “adult men” who had sex with her when she was a minor.
Leppard’s client told the House investigation that taking MDMA, or ecstasy, was “more or less expected” for sex party participants, although he did not directly see Gaetz take ecstasy, the lawyer said.
“He testified that he saw Deputy Gaetz under the influence of drugs, and I believe he saw him use marijuana at times,” Leppard said.
According to Leppard, the two clients were paid to entertain and have sex with partygoers.
“They basically got together to party, do drugs and have sex,” Leppard said.
Leppard said Gaetz’s payments ranged from $200 to $500 and were labeled as descriptive purchases, such as gas or hotel trips. The women occasionally had sex without payment, cases where Gaetz or Greenberg called for “Customer Appreciation Week.”
According to Leppard, two of his clients confirmed to the House Ethics Committee that the payments were for sexual favors.
“The house was very clear about that and looked at each one. They basically put the Venmo payments on the screen and asked about them. And my clients repeatedly testified, ‘What was this payment for?’ ‘That was for sex,'” Leppard said.
Leppard stressed that the two women have spoken to investigators for years in the House and Justice Department investigations, and denied that their accusations were in any way politically motivated.
“Now that they’ve been through all that, they don’t want to go through this again, and since Deputy Gaetz is considered the most powerful police officer in the land today, I think that’s important information for the American people to consider,” Leppard said.
