WASHINGTON – lawyer two women accusing former Rep. Matt Gaetz pays them for sex In an interview with NBC News, he said he did not want to testify publicly after his clients testified behind closed doors to the House Ethics Committee this year.
Orlando-based attorney Joel Leppard told NBC News that the two women previously told the House Ethics Committee that Gaetz repeatedly paid them for sex, and that one of them witnessed him having sex with a then-17-year-old friend. on monday. Leppard said his clients now “hope to pressure the House to release the contents of the investigation” and avoid repeating the same allegations publicly.
“It would basically be the worst case scenario for them to have to release themselves to the public,” he said.
Last week, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would pick Gaetz, a conservative stalwart during his nearly eight years in the House, as attorney general. Gaetz formally resigned after Trump’s announcement, leaving it unclear whether he would release the final report of the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating him for the past three years. (The committee has authority only from members of Congress.)
Leppard said his clients only spoke to the Ethics Committee after receiving a subpoena and would only testify publicly “with a valid legal subpoena requiring them to speak.”
“They’ve been through a lot, and the damage caused by this investigation is, in some ways, more serious than what happened before it. So this investigation has reopened old wounds,” he said.
“They have no agenda. My clients are not politically motivated. They haven’t voted in the last two elections,” Leppard added.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters Monday that Gaetz has not ruled out calling his accusers to testify during his confirmation hearings for attorney general. But he said he would prefer to get that information from either the House Ethics Committee report or the Justice Department.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Durbin said, calling for the women to testify before the Judiciary Committee.
But he added that obtaining a copy of the House Ethics Committee report “would be a politically balanced and perfectly correct starting point. Perhaps the Justice Department’s own investigation could be prompted at some point. I want to refer to these two sources before looking at any challenge.”
Durbin will be in the minority when the Judiciary Committee holds the next Gaetz confirmation hearing, so his powers will be drastically reduced starting Jan. 3. However, the minority is usually able to choose witnesses who will speak about the candidate’s character and work. , and Democrats can call the women who filed allegations against Gaetz and spoke to the House Ethics Committee.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss. and Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., will meet Wednesday to discuss whether to release a report on her extensive, years-long investigation into allegations that she dealt with Gaetz. in sexual exploitation and illegal use of drugs, he accepted inappropriate gifts, showed special favors to those he had a personal relationship with, and obstructed the investigation.
Gaetz denied all the allegations and declined to answer NBC’s detailed questions about Leppard’s interview on Monday. Trump’s transition team called the allegations against Gaetz “baseless,” noting that the Justice Department had been investigating him for years over allegations of sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, but had informed Gaetz in February 2023. closes the probe without accusing him. The Justice Department declined to comment on why it decided not to charge Gaetz.
Wild and other Democrats on the House Ethics Committee we want the report to be made public – or at least sent to the Judiciary members of the Senate for consideration. But Trump ally R-La. Speaker Mike Johnson is “Strongly” urges House committee not to release report even as he insists that he does not interfere with the committee’s independence.
“I did not dictate anything to the Ethics Committee. It’s not my place to do that. I’ve been very clear,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m just answering the questions every media outlet in America has asked me: Do I think if there’s a report, should it be published? And the answer is no.”
said one of Leppard’s customers testified In April, he testified before the Ethics Committee that he personally witnessed Gaetz having sex with an underage girlfriend at a house party in Orlando in 2017. Leppard’s client testified that Gaetz did not think he knew the girl was a minor and that he “believes they stopped having sex.” The attorney said he learned the girl’s age was 18.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he would not support forcing the two women to testify if they did not want to testify before the Judiciary Committee and expressed concern that it could “re-victimize them.”
Blumenthal told NBC News that “I would refrain from using a subpoena if they resisted.”
Leppard said his client’s goal is just to get the House to release its report. “If this report is released … the results of the 25 subpoenas, the thousands of documents submitted to the House of Representatives, then their work will be done and the American people will vote Rep. It can decide whether Gaetz is the best choice to run. a high-ranking official of the country’s law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Several Republican senators expressed doubt that Gaetz could be confirmed by the Senate. But Trump has made clear he is serious about appointing Gaetz as the top law enforcement official, and Vice President J.D. Vance will arrange meetings on Capitol Hill this week between Republican senators and Gaetz, as well as other expected Cabinet nominees. .
Cramer confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that Trump personally called Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., urging him to go after Gaetz. But the senator said he has not yet decided how he will vote on the nomination.
Trump has “always been convincing and earned the capital from the voters,” Cramer said, but added, “As the process progresses, I’m skeptical, but I’m keeping an open mind.”