These Text Messages Pointed the Feds to Matt Gaetz Jose Pagliery Fri, 2 April 2021, 9:25 am·7-min read Getty Getty In late January 2020, U.S. Secret Service agents received information that Rep. Matt Gaetz had accompanied a Florida county tax official they were already investigating on an unusual nighttime visit to a government office—where the local official was allegedly making fake IDs, a source close to the investigation told The Daily Beast.
That tip to the feds came in a text message conversation that Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg had with an employee explaining why they were both in the office one weekend two years earlier, according to this person.
A timestamp visible in the text message thread indicated the conversation took place on Monday, April 16, 2018.
According to three people with direct knowledge of the incident: Greenberg visited the Lake Mary, Florida branch of his tax collection agency that weekend. Grainy surveillance footage captured Greenberg standing near a manager’s desk with another man. Greenberg forgot to set the alarm on the way out, which concerned the assistant branch manager when she walked into the office Monday morning. That employee was surprised to find that driver licenses—which are normally turned in when expired at the tax office for shredding—were scattered all over the desk instead of in the appropriate disposal basket. She reviewed the camera footage and alerted her boss, who in turn contacted Greenberg via text.
“Did you happen to visit the Lake Mary Office on the weekend?” the text message read.
The image obtained by The Daily Beast shows that Greenberg allegedly responded: “Yes I was showing congressman Gaetz what our operation looked like. Did I leave something on?”
<div class="inline-image__credit"> handout</div> handout The Daily Beast obtained images of additional text messages that purport to show Greenberg helping Gaetz get duplicate IDs—outside of proper channels on a Sunday afternoon. On Sept. 2, 2018, Greenberg directly asked an employee to quickly create a new card that complies with the heightened security standards of “REAL ID,” a process that would normally require providing additional documentation, according to the images.
“Amy- is there anyway to assist one of our Congressmen in getting an emergency replacement ID or DL by Tuesday 2pm? His was lost yesterday and he’s got a flight Tuesday. Doesn’t have any other form of ID currently on him. Sorry to bother you on Sunday,” Greenberg wrote.
Greenberg then confirmed that the favor was for “Matthew Louis Gaetz II,” born on May 7, 1982.
<div class="inline-image__credit"> handout</div> handout When Greenberg later came under investigation by the Secret Service for identity theft and stalking, agents approached former employees at the tax office to obtain proof of the public official’s activities. That’s when they were suddenly directed to Gaetz.
According to the source who provided the text message conversation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to guarantee their safety, Secret Service agents directed them in the final days of January 2020 to print out the full text message conversation with Greenberg from online AT&T records. That source said those text messages were delivered to the Secret Service, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and most recently, another federal agency.
Gaetz, a Florida Republican, is now the target of a Justice Department investigation that is focusing on allegations that the Republican congressman and Greenberg recruited young women and paid them for sex, according to The New York Times.
CNN first reported the existence of text messages on Thursday. The Orlando Sentinel confirmed their existence as well.
On Wednesday, The Daily Beast attempted to file a public records request to obtain a copy of the video surveillance that is believed to show Gaetz with Greenberg on that weekend in April 2018. However, a Seminole County representative indicated that the video is unavailable because the government agency has a policy of deleting all surveillance footage after 60 days. County officials would not comment on what exactly employees have told federal investigators about their recollection of the incident.
The Daily Beast also attempted to reach the former employee who interacted with Greenberg via text message, but was unsuccessful. That employee eventually signed a $50,000 settlement with the Office of the Seminole County Tax Collector over claims of unfair retaliation at work after Greenberg allegedly used a circle of personal friends he hired at the agency to harass and intimidate her and her family. That settlement bars her from “false or defamatory statements” about her former employer, but importantly does not prevent her from speaking to government investigators, according to a copy obtained by The Daily Beast.
Republicans Have Been Waiting for a Matt Gaetz Scandal to Break
Her attorney, Daniel A. Pérez, declined to comment on any current efforts to assist federal law enforcement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida would not confirm the existence of an ongoing investigation into Gaetz.
Prosecutors there do have an ongoing case against Greenberg, who came under federal scrutiny after he repeatedly angered fellow county officials with his bizarre, erratic behavior.
According to people familiar with the investigation, Secret Service agents were initially interested in Greenberg’s failed attempt to allow Seminole County residents to pay their taxes in Bitcoin. Attorneys have revealed in court that the federal probe quietly began by April 2019. That began to heat up when Greenberg ran for re-election and faced political opposition from a fine arts teacher at Trinity Preparatory School.
Federal agents arrested him at his Lake Mary home on June 17, 2020, and the case initially hinged on accusations that Greenberg had set up fake online profiles to defame the teacher and had sent several letters to the school with lurid accusations that his opponent had engaged in sexual misconduct with a student.
As of Tuesday, that case has now vastly expanded to a 33-count indictment that includes a diverse list of crimes that range from wirefraud to sex trafficking. Investigators say Greenberg recruited at least one teenager between 14 and 17 years old to engage in a “commercial sex act” between May and November 2017 in Central Florida and elsewhere.
Investigators also say that Greenberg used his privileged access to Florida’s driver license database to look up private information on “individuals” with whom he “was engaged in ‘sugar-daddy’ relationships.”
Additionally, Greenberg is also accused of making fake IDs—potentially explaining why the 2018 surveillance footage raised concerns that led to that text message conversation handed to investigators.
The Daily Beast obtained text messages handed to federal investigators that allegedly show Greenberg acknowledging that he visited the office on the weekend of August 4, 2018, where there were driver licenses “scattered across the desks and not put away in an organized manner.”
Greenberg has maintained a close relationship with Gaetz for several years. Both were rising stars in Florida’s Republican Party in 2016. They have taken selfies together with political operative Roger Stone in 2017, at AIPAC in 2018, and at the White House in 2019. Gaetz publicly lent his support to Greenberg, cheering him as “a disrupter” who should run for Congress.
They were also together in the Florida panhandle region on July 5, 2019 when they called a state legislator, Rep. Anna V. Eskamani, and left her a peculiar voicemail that has been obtained by The Daily Beast.
“My dear Anna, this is your favorite tax collector. I’m up in the panhandle with your favorite U.S. congressman, Mr. Gaetz,” Greenberg starts to say.
“Hi Anna!” Gaetz jumps in.
“And, uh, we were just chatting about you, and talking about your lovely qualities,” Greenberg continued.
“We think you’re the future of the Democratic Party in Florida!” Gaetz said.
On Thursday, Eskamani told The Daily Beast that she maintained Greenberg at arm’s length for years. Their interactions started when she called him out over Islamaphobic comments then helped him connect with the Muslim community to recover from that. Eskamani said she cautiously entertained “weird” contacts from Greenberg and Gaetz that made her uncomfortable.
“We were not friends. We never hung out. We didn't talk ever, really. I just played nice. For so many women you're either very blunt and be called a bitch, or you try to play nice and pivot and deflate,” she said.
Part of another article also says there are receipts and pictures, he was using a sugar daddy site, and he sometimes takes ecstacy before the encounters
Women Say Rep. Matt Gaetz Paid Them for Sex: Report RECEIPTS Gaetz, who is under investigation for potential sex trafficking of a minor, denied the allegations.
Blake Montgomery Reporter/Editor Updated Apr. 02, 2021 12:01AM ET / Published Apr. 01, 2021 10:15PM ET
Graeme Jennings/Reuters Multiple women interviewed by the FBI in a probe of Rep. Matt Gaetz told investigators the Florida Republican paid them for sex, The New York Times reports.
The news is just the latest scandal to hit Gaetz since the Times revealed the congressman was under scrutiny by federal investigators looking into whether he violated sex trafficking laws in his relations with a 17-year-old girl. Since that bombshell came out a mere two days ago, disturbing details about Gaetz’s alleged behavior have piled up, from claims he has bragged and shared naked photos of his sexual partners on the House floor, to the latest report that he left a trail of receipts via Apple Pay and Cash App showing money exchanged for sex.
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According to the Times, Gaetz, 38, would reportedly meet and arrange for sex with women online, telling them the times and places to meet and how much he was willing to pay beforehand. The meetups are said to have taken place in 2019 and 2020. Two sources cited in the report also said Gaetz was known to have sometimes taken ecstasy before these sexual encounters, and that he tasked the women with finding others willing to sleep with him and his friends. They would reportedly meet the women via Seeking Arrangement, a site for wealthy sugar daddies and those in search of them.
Trust me, I know what you are saying. Not long ago I compared the situation at the border with feeding stray cats, and people got all puffed up saying I was calling the children stray cats.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
Trust me, I know what you are saying. Not long ago I compared the situation at the border with feeding stray cats, and people got all puffed up saying I was calling the children stray cats.
Don't compare or confuse your casual racist comments with his figure of speech. You know damn well there is a difference.
Help me out here if you can, I lost my calculator and can't keep up.... if Gaetz serves time which seems ever more likely, how many of Trump's closest allies and associates will it be that have been sent to the Clinker? Just out of curiosity how many of Biden's closest and dearest have served time I wonder?
Wonder if there is a pre-packaged excuse for that by Fox and the deplorables?
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
Wonder if there is a pre-packaged excuse for that by Fox and the deplorables?
Oh look, the "Baizuo" crowd is calling names. I don't know of any Fox "pre-packaged" excuses for Gaetz, but since you brought up Fox, they did do a segment on the "Baizuo" (White Liberal) which was quite good and true!
Baizuo according to the popular Chinese definition is a hallmark of virtue-signalling hypocritical humanitarians who support peace and equality only to “satisfy their own feeling of moral superiority”. They are “obsessed with political correctness” to the extent that they “tolerate backwards Islamic values for the sake of multiculturalism”. They believe in the welfare state that “benefits only the idle and the free riders”. As per the Chinese, baizuo are the “ignorant and arrogant westerners” who “pity the rest of the world and think they are saviours”.
Help me out here if you can, I lost my calculator and can't keep up.... if Gaetz serves time which seems ever more likely, how many of Trump's closest allies and associates will it be that have been sent to the Clinker? Just out of curiosity how many of Biden's closest and dearest have served time I wonder?
Wonder if there is a pre-packaged excuse for that by Fox and the deplorables?
There’s always Hillary’s email, Benghazi, and Hunter’s Ukrainian deal.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
Wonder if there is a pre-packaged excuse for that by Fox and the deplorables?
Oh look, the "Baizuo" crowd is calling names.
Yeah - because calling sex offenders deplorable is awful! LOL Meanwhile Fox has a whole segment for "name calling" for all Biden supporters and liberals. LOL and you say it's "True". Classy.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
It was a deliberate use of the word Hilary used - and to be fair, it really does seem to apply to many Trump associates and supporters. Whether they are crooks, liars, damn liars, conmen, sex offenders or insurrectionists.
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
U.S. Rep. Kinzinger calls on fellow Republican Gaetz to resign
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger has called for the resignation of fellow Republican Matt Gaetz, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who faces a federal probe of a possible relationship with an underage girl.
“Matt Gaetz needs to resign,” Kinzinger, an outspoken critic of Trump, said in a Twitter post on Thursday night.
Kinzinger is the first Republican member of Congress to call on Gaetz, a congressman from Florida, to step down.
Kinzinger issued his statement as a spokeswoman for two New York criminal defense lawyers confirmed they had been hired by Gaetz.
“Matt has always been a fighter... and he’s going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him. His legal team, led by Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner, will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods,” said the statement issued on the lawyers’ behalf by Erin Elmore of the Logan Circle Group.
Gaetz is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for possibly violating sex-trafficking laws by paying travel expenses for a 17-year-old girl with whom he was romantically involved, according to a U.S. law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has denied wrongdoing.
He was scheduled to speak on Friday at the “Save America Summit” at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami. The summit is being organized by Women for America First, a pro-Trump group that organized a Jan. 6 rally near the White House that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot.
if I read it correctly he paid for a 17 year old to come across state lines... his buddy is also being charged with sex trafficking... if true both should be locked up for a long time...
I'm not sure that's even what is being alleged here. So I went back and re read the original post.
So Mr. Greenburg is the one who is allegedly bringing girls to meet the congress person. The investigation originally started with Greenburg.
Same 17-year-old girl at center of Justice Dept. investigation into Matt Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, NYT reports By KATIE BENNER AND MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT THE NEW YORK TIMES | APR 02, 2021 AT 11:35 AM
WASHINGTON — A Justice Department investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz and Joel Greenberg is focusing on their involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments, according to people close to the investigation and text messages and payment receipts reviewed by The New York Times.
Investigators believe Greenberg, the former tax collector in Seminole County, who was indicted last year on a federal sex trafficking charge and other crimes, initially met the women through websites that connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances, according to three people with knowledge of the encounters. Greenberg introduced the women to Gaetz, who also had sex with them, the people said.
One of the women who had sex with both men also agreed to have sex with an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida Republican politics, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Greenberg had initially contacted her online and introduced her to Gaetz, the person said.
Gaetz denied ever paying a woman for sex.
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SEE MORESponsored Content by The Penny Hoarder The Justice Department inquiry is also examining whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl and whether she received anything of material value, according to four people familiar with the investigation. The sex trafficking count against Greenberg involved the same girl, according to two people briefed on the investigation.
The authorities have also investigated whether other men connected to Gaetz and Greenberg had sex with the 17-year-old, two of the people said.
Gaetz, 38, was elected to Congress in 2016 and became one of former President Donald Trump’s most outspoken advocates.
The Times has reviewed receipts from Cash App, a mobile payments app, and Apple Pay that show payments from Gaetz and Greenberg to one of the women, and a payment from Greenberg to a second woman. The women told their friends that the payments were for sex with the two men, according to two people familiar with the conversations.
In encounters during 2019 and 2020, Gaetz and Greenberg instructed the women to meet at certain times and places, often at hotels around Florida, and would tell them the amount of money they were willing to pay, according to the messages and interviews.
One person said that the men also paid in cash, sometimes withdrawn from a hotel ATM.
Some of the men and women took ecstasy, an illegal mood-altering drug, before having sex, including Gaetz, two people familiar with the encounters said.
In some cases, Gaetz asked women to help find others who might be interested in having sex with him and his friends, according to two people familiar with those conversations. Should anyone inquire about their relationships, one person said, Gaetz told the women to say that he had paid for hotel rooms and dinners as part of their dates.
The FBI has questioned multiple women involved in the encounters, including as recently as January, to establish details of their relationships with Gaetz and his friends, according to text messages and two people familiar with the interviews.
No charges have been brought against Gaetz, and the extent of his criminal exposure is unclear. Gaetz’s office issued a statement on Thursday night in a response to a request for comment.
“Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex,” the statement said. “Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever. Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.”
A lawyer for Greenberg, Fritz Scheller, declined to comment, as did a Justice Department spokesman.
It is not illegal to provide adults with free hotel stays, meals and other gifts, but if prosecutors think they can prove that the payments to the women were for sex, they could accuse Gaetz of trafficking the women under “force, fraud or coercion.” For example, prosecutors have filed trafficking charges against people suspected of providing drugs in exchange for sex because feeding another person’s drug habit could be seen as a form of coercion.
It is also a violation of federal child sex trafficking law to provide someone under 18 with anything of value in exchange for sex, which can include meals, hotels, drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.
The investigation stems from the Justice Department’s continuing inquiry into Greenberg, who potentially faces decades in prison on three dozen charges. The U.S. attorney’s office in Central Florida initially secured an indictment against Greenberg in June, alleging that he had stalked a political rival and had used his elected office to create fake identification cards.
During the investigation, the authorities discovered evidence that prompted them to broaden it, and Greenberg was indicted in August on the sex trafficking charge.
One of the sites the men met women through was called Seeking Arrangement, which describes itself as a place where wealthy people find attractive companions and pamper them “with fine dinners, exotic trips and allowances.” The site’s founder has said it has 20 million members worldwide. The FBI mentioned the website in a conversation with at least one potential witness, according to a person familiar with the conversation.
Greenberg was indicted this week on additional charges, accusing him of submitting false claims to receive pandemic relief aid from the government and trying to bribe a government official. The authorities said Greenberg undertook those efforts after he was initially indicted last summer.
Greenberg has pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges and is scheduled to go on trial in June. He was sent to jail in March for violating the terms of his bail.
Gaetz said this week that his lawyers had been in touch with the Justice Department and that he was the subject, not the target, of an investigation. Subjects of investigations are often witnesses or people who might have information that could help the government pursue its targets. But it is common for that designation to shift during an investigation.
“I only know that it has to do with women,” Gaetz said. “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”
Gaetz, a lawyer, was first elected to the House representing the Florida Panhandle at age 34. The son of a former president of the Florida state Senate, Gaetz attended Florida State University and William & Mary Law School before serving in the Florida Legislature.
Gaetz has sought to divert attention from the Justice Department investigation by claiming that he and his father were the targets of an extortion plot by two men.
The men — Robert Kent, a former Air Force intelligence officer who runs a consulting business, and Stephen Alford, a real estate developer who has been convicted of fraud — approached Gaetz’s father, Don Gaetz, about funding their efforts to locate Robert A. Levinson, an American hostage held in Iran. They suggested to Don Gaetz that Levinson’s successful return could somehow be used to secure a pardon for Matt Gaetz if he were charged with federal crimes, according to a copy of their proposal provided to The Times.
Soon after, Don Gaetz hired a lawyer and contacted the FBI. Matt Gaetz said his father wore a wire and taped a meeting and a telephone conversation with Alford. An email exchange between Don Gaetz’s lawyer and the Justice Department provided to The Times appears to confirm he was generally cooperating with the FBI as it looked into his claims.
Kent denied the Gaetzes’ assertions. He said he had heard rumors that Matt Gaetz might be under investigation and mentioned them only to sweeten his proposal. “I told him I’m not trying to extort, but if this were true, he might be interested in doing something good,” Kent said in an interview.
Last year, the Trump administration notified the family of Levinson, a former FBI agent, that he had died while in captivity in Iran, where he disappeared in 2007 while on an unauthorized mission for the CIA.
But some people involved with the Levinson case continued to believe that he might still be alive, including Kent.
He was stunned when he heard that Matt Gaetz had sought to tie the Justice Department investigation to an extortion plot related to the Levinson case.
“He threw Levinson and the entire Levinson family under the bus,” Kent said. “I can’t imagine what these poor people have been through. This guy, to divert attention from himself, has raked up the attention to the family.”
Don Gaetz also taped a phone call and a meeting with David McGee, a Levinson family lawyer, where they discussed the rescue proposal. In an interview, McGee denied any involvement and suggested Matt Gaetz was conflating the matter inappropriately with his own potential criminal liability.
“He’s trying to distract attention from a pending tidal wave that is about to sink his ship,” McGee said.
if I read it correctly he paid for a 17 year old to come across state lines... his buddy is also being charged with sex trafficking... if true both should be locked up for a long time...
I'm not sure that's even what is being alleged here. So I went back and re read the original post.
So Mr. Greenburg is the one who is allegedly bringing girls to meet the congress person. The investigation originally started with Greenburg.
The party of no-accountability strikes again! Can't make this up....
The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
U.S. Rep. Kinzinger calls on fellow Republican Gaetz to resign
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger has called for the resignation of fellow Republican Matt Gaetz, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump who faces a federal probe of a possible relationship with an underage girl.
“Matt Gaetz needs to resign,” Kinzinger, an outspoken critic of Trump, said in a Twitter post on Thursday night.
Kinzinger is the first Republican member of Congress to call on Gaetz, a congressman from Florida, to step down.
Kinzinger issued his statement as a spokeswoman for two New York criminal defense lawyers confirmed they had been hired by Gaetz.
“Matt has always been a fighter... and he’s going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him. His legal team, led by Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner, will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods,” said the statement issued on the lawyers’ behalf by Erin Elmore of the Logan Circle Group.
Gaetz is being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for possibly violating sex-trafficking laws by paying travel expenses for a 17-year-old girl with whom he was romantically involved, according to a U.S. law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has denied wrongdoing.
He was scheduled to speak on Friday at the “Save America Summit” at the Trump National Doral resort in Miami. The summit is being organized by Women for America First, a pro-Trump group that organized a Jan. 6 rally near the White House that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot.
And in the midst of Trump asking for boycotts on everything from sports to Harley Davidson they point the finger at the other side for cancel culture. You couldn't make that crazy BS up if you tried.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/PortlandDawg/banner.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/small-gator-chomp.gif)
And the GQP cancel culture hypocrisy is so blatant.
