Federal Inquiry Traced Payments From Gaetz to Women

A document prepared by federal investigators bolsters claims by women who say they were hired for sex by Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice for attorney general, who denies wrongdoing.

By Michael S. Schmidt

Federal investigators established a trail of payments from Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to be attorney general, to women including some who testified that Mr. Gaetz hired them for sex, according to a document obtained by The New York Times and a lawyer representing some of the women.

The document, assembled by investigators during a three-year sex-trafficking investigation into Mr. Gaetz, is a chart that shows a web of thousands of dollars in Venmo payments between Mr. Gaetz and a group of his friends, associates and women who had drug-fueled sex parties between 2017 and 2020, according to testimony that participants are said to have given to federal and congressional investigators.

At the parties, women, and a girl who was 17 at the time, were paid for sex, according to accounts of the participants’ testimony from people briefed on what they said.

The document bolsters recent claims by a lawyer for two of the women who say they had sex with Mr. Gaetz for money. It shows thousands of dollars in payments Mr. Gaetz made to both of the lawyer’s clients.

Mr. Gaetz, 42, represented Florida in Congress from 2017 until last week. He has vehemently denied their accounts, and the federal investigation was closed by the Justice Department without any charges against him. Vice President-elect JD Vance accompanied Mr. Gaetz to Capitol Hill on Wednesday in an effort to build support for his nomination from Republican senators, some of whom have expressed doubt that he is confirmable.

The document was obtained by the House Ethics Committee, which met on Wednesday amid growing pressure to release a report it has compiled on Mr. Gaetz but deadlocked on whether to do so.

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Michael S. Schmidt is an investigative reporter for The Times covering Washington. His work focuses on tracking and explaining high-profile federal investigations. More about Michael S. Schmidt

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