Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Congressman Matt Gaetz, admitted in a letter that he and Gaetz both paid for sex — including with a minor who was 17 at the time.
The Daily Beast said it obtained three versions of a confession letter that Greenberg apparently wrote last year in an effort to secure a pardon from President Donald Trump.
“On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself,” Greenberg wrote in reference to the 17-year-old who he maintains that both he and Gaetz believed her to be 19.
“From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.”
Greenberg also asked Roger Stone to help him secure a pardon from then-President Donald Trump and offered him $250,000 in bitcoin.
“If I get you $250k in Bitcoin would that help or is this not a financial matter,” Greenberg wrote to Stone, one message shows.
“I understand all of this and have taken it into consideration,” Stone replied. “I will know more in the next 24 hours I cannot push too hard because of the nonsense surrounding pardons.”
“I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident,” Stone wrote to Greenberg on January 13th, the same day Trump was impeached for the second time during his one-term presidency, which ended seven days later.
Stone confirmed to the Daily Beast that Greenberg had tried to hire him. However, Stone denied being paid or that he helped Greenberg beyond instructing him to prepare ‘a document explaining his prosecution.’
A spokesperson for Gaetz told CNN in a statement Thursday evening, “Congressman Gaetz has never paid for sex, nor has he had sex with a 17 year old as an adult. Politico has reported Mr. Greenberg’s threats to make false accusations against others, and while The Daily Beast’s story contains a lot of confessions from Mr. Greenberg, it does not add anything of substance, and certainly no evidence for the wild and false claims about Rep. Gaetz. In fact, the story goes some way to showing how Rep. Gaetz was long out of touch with Mr. Greenberg, and had no interest in involving himself in Mr. Greenberg’s affairs.”
California Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu is demanding GOP leaders kick Rep. Matt Gaetz off the House Judiciary Committee after the release of a stunning ‘confession’ letter.
Dear @GOPLeader: Please remove Rep Matt Gaetz from the House Judiciary Committee immediately. The Committee has jurisdiction over the Department of Justice that is investigating Rep Gaetz, including allegedly for sex crimes with a minor. This is an untenable conflict of interest. https://t.co/H3ZzJYoCzs
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 30, 2021
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