House Ethics Committee contacts Matt Gaetz's ex-girlfriend as part of ongoing investigation: Source
The House Ethics Committee has reached out to a former girlfriend of Rep. Matt Gaetz seeking an interview amid the committee's ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman, a source familiar with the committee's work tells ABC News.
Sources familiar with the committee's work tell ABC News that House investigators are interested in speaking with the ex-girlfriend, who ABC News is not naming, about allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, and about allegations of drug use, and potential lobbying violations.
In a statement to ABC News, Tim Jansen, an attorney for the ex-girlfriend, said, "I can confirm that I have filed a Notice Of Representation of a potential witness with the US House Ethic's Committee about an ongoing investigation by the committee."
In 2022, Gaetz's former girlfriend testified before a grand jury investigating the congressman, a source told ABC News. Gaetz was never charged and has denied any wrongdoing.
Gaetz's ex-girlfriend, who previously worked on Capitol Hill, allegedly has knowledge not only regarding the congressman but also the one-time minor at the center of the sex trafficking investigation eventually closed by the Department of Justice without charging Gaetz. The ex was also one of the women who was allegedly on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas with Gaetz and others, including the minor, which the House ethics committee is also investigating, sources said.
ABC News previously reported that since the start of the year, the committee investigating Gaetz had also reached out to numerous other witnesses, including the woman who allegedly had sex with the congressman when she was a minor, and Joel Greenberg, the one-time close friend of Gaetz who was sentenced to 11-years in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges, sources told ABC News.
Gaetz has blasted the Ethic Committee for "trying to weaponize their process."
"The Ethics Committee is engaging in payback against me for ousting the person who singularly appointed every Republican - Kevin McCarthy," Gaetz said in a statement to ABC News Thursday night when asked about the latest development.
"I see through this sham and the American people will too," Gaetz added. "Exposing witch hunts is kind of my thing around here.”
CNN was first to report news of the interview request.
