Witness in sex trafficking probe confirms Matt Gaetz’s presence at 'drug-fueled party': attorney

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) has been among the most divisive figures in Congress — even among conservatives, some of whom continue to resent the far-right MAGA congressman for the key role he played in ousting former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) as House speaker in 2023.

The House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz as part of a sex trafficking probe, and on Wednesday, February 14, ABC News reported that it had obtained text messages between the lawmaker and a woman in her twenties who was part of that probe. A spokesperson for Gaetz told ABC News that Gaetz "does not know anything about the woman you're referencing," but according to the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, the woman "told prosecutors in 2021 that she had sex with Gaetz at a drug-fueled party that she was paid to attend, according to the woman's attorney."

Sollenberger, in an article published on February 16, reports that her attorney "told The Daily Beast, on Thursday, (February 15), that the woman, in fact, received payments in connection with multiple sex parties with people in Gaetz's circle."

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"Her lawyer said that, in response to a subpoena, she testified about her experiences to the U.S. attorneys investigating Gaetz," Sollenberger explains. "And she turned over text messages, photos, and other evidence to the Justice Department as part of its child sex trafficking inquiry into the Florida congressman, the lawyer said."

The Beast, according to Sollenberger, has "obtained some of those messages and photos," and they "match the documents described by ABC News."

Sollenberger notes that the Beast is withholding the name of the woman, who "was older than 21 at the time of the encounters, the attorney said, noting that she emphasized to prosecutors that the sex was consensual."

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