A lawyer for two women who testified to House Ethics Committee told CNN on Monday that one of his clients saw former Rep. Matt Gaetz have sex with her underage friend.
"My client testified to the House that she witnessed Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, a minor," attorney Joel Leppard said. "She was invited to a party in July of 2017."
Leppard noted that his client testified to the committee that as she walked out of the pool at the party, she saw her friend, believed to be 17 at the time, have sex with Gaetz,
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gaetz to be attorney general in his incoming Cabinet. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump's announcement, apparently also skirting the possible release of an allegedly damning House Ethics Committee report about Gaetz's alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. Gaetz has denied the allegations, and the committee is set to vote Wednesday on whether to release the report.
"[My client] testified to the House that Rep. Gaetz did not know her friend's age at the time they had sexual intercourse, and when he found out about her age that Rep. Gaetz stopped having sexual intercourse with her," the attorney said. "He only started the sexual intercourse interactions later on when she turned 18."
Leppard later noted that Gaetz paid both his clients for sexual favors throughout the summer of 2017 until the start of 2019, primarily through Venmo and PayPal. Additionally, the lawyer noted that one payment was through the PayPal account of Gaetz's adopted son, Nestor Galban.
