The witness later spoke with prosecutors, the sources mentioned. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing, together with obstructing justice or having inte
The witness later spoke with prosecutors, the sources mentioned.
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing, together with obstructing justice or having intercourse with the trafficked 17-year-old, who was a buddy of each Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend and the witness prosecutors interviewed.
The obstruction probe is the newest improvement within the ongoing federal investigation into Gaetz, a high ally of former President Donald Trump who has come below growing scrutiny on account of his relationship with Greenberg — now a cooperating witness. The obstruction inquiry alerts how vast a web federal prosecutors are casting to probably ensnare the congressman.
A spokesman for Gaetz offered a written assertion that acknowledged the congressman — who’s an lawyer — broke no legal guidelines and characterised the federal authorities’s investigation as a politically motivated fishing expedition.
“Congressman Gaetz pursues justice, he doesn’t impede it,” the assertion mentioned. “The nameless allegations have so far amounted to lies, wrapped in leaks, rooted in an extortion plot by a former DOJ official. After two months, there may be nonetheless not a single on-record accusation of misconduct, and now the ‘story’ is altering but once more.”
Gaetz’s assertion additionally mentioned his legal professionals are concurrently investigating an alleged shakedown scheme that was purportedly organized by a former federal prosecutor in response to the case.
Brian Tannebaum, a veteran federal protection lawyer briefed by POLITICO on the investigation, mentioned that obstruction of justice is “broadly utilized by prosecutors in numerous types” and may even ensnare witnesses who lie on the stand at trial. He mentioned that, if authorities recorded the decision involving Gaetz, prosecutors will pay attention for indicators that he’s making an attempt to get the girl to “get her story straight” by shading the reality.
“If there’s any indication he was making an attempt to affect her testimony, that may be obstruction,” Tannebaum mentioned. “If it’s decided that what he mentioned obstructed the investigation — ‘did what he inform you’ve any affect in your testimony earlier than the grand jury?’ — it may be actual downside.”
Neither Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend nor the witness on the decision might be reached for remark. POLITICO shouldn’t be naming both lady or the then-17-year-old sufferer of Greenberg’s sex-trafficking to respect their privateness.
The Justice Division declined to remark.
The previous Gaetz girlfriend who was on the decision in query, in the meantime, is looking for an immunity deal from prosecutors and has expressed fears to buddies that she too might have run afoul of an obstruction of justice cost. She advised buddies that she feared the alleged trafficking sufferer might have recorded her in one other telephone name.
Although Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend has not signed an immunity deal but, she would possibly accomplish that by the top of the month, in accordance with insiders with first-hand information of the investigation into Gaetz who say July might be a primary time for the congressman to be indicted if there’s sufficient proof in opposition to him. Greenberg is already cooperating with the federal authorities, and there are indicators that the girl he sex-trafficked as a minor is cooperating as properly.
Gaetz dated his ex-girlfriend in 2017 and 2018, however they’d an open relationship that concerned different ladies, together with the one concerned within the three-way name below examination from prosecutors, in accordance with two sources conversant in the connection. These two ladies joined Gaetz and others — together with Greenberg’s sex-trafficking sufferer after she turned 18 — on a jaunt to the Bahamas in late 2018.
Prosecutors are additionally inspecting that journey to see if Gaetz or others violated a federal legislation, the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting folks throughout state strains to have interaction in prostitution.
Gaetz has constantly denied paying for intercourse or prostitutes however has acknowledged participating in so-called “sugar daddy” relationships with the ladies he met by means of Greenberg, who in flip discovered a lot of them on the SeekingArrangement web site for males searching for relationships with youthful ladies.
However whereas SeekingArrangement relationships won’t meet the authorized definition of prostitution for a Mann Act case, specialists say that the federal sex-trafficking of a minor statute has a broader definition of monetary transactions. If a suspect had intercourse with somebody below the age of 18, and if one thing of worth adjustments palms, then a suspect will be charged.
An lawyer representing one of many folks of curiosity to authorities within the investigation mentioned prosecutors have interviewed “quite a few ladies” and that there have been “wild intercourse events involving medicine, a number of ladies.” However, due to the vast ambit of the sex-trafficking of a minor statute, it may rope in a few of the ladies who had been sexually concerned with the 17-year-old in 2017.
“Intercourse trafficking of a minor entails two prongs on this case: did you’ve intercourse with [the 17-year-old] and did something of worth change palms? If the reply is sure, and if any of those different ladies had been concerned, why are they not dealing with prices as properly?” the lawyer requested.
“If the federal authorities desires to name a bunch of individuals to the state who sex-trafficked a minor in an effort to bust Gaetz for a similar crime, it’s an avenue for his protection if it will get that far.”
Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.