Matt Gaetz accused in suit of sex trafficking two women in Florida

Key points

• Matt Gaetz was accused in a Florida civil lawsuit of sex trafficking two women, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, from 2017 to 2019.
• The lawsuit claims Gaetz and two others coordinated payments, drugs, and travel for commercial sexual acts.
• Gaetz denied the allegations, saying he looks forward to depositions and calling the lawsuit's reliance on a congressional report unfair.

A civil lawsuit filed on Thursday in the US district court for the middle district of Florida accuses former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz of participating in the sex trafficking of two young women. The women, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, allege that Gaetz and two others coordinated the recruitment, payments, drugs, and travel to obtain commercial sexual acts from them between 2017 and January 2019.

The lawsuit contends that the defendants used their public office, power, and wealth to prey on the plaintiffs' economic vulnerability. Gaetz, who resigned from Congress in November 2024, denied the allegations in a statement to the Guardian.

Details of the allegations

The 38-page complaint alleges that Joel Micah Greenberg, a close associate of Gaetz and former tax collector of Seminole county, recruited the women through SeekingArrangement.com and introduced them to Gaetz. Greenberg pleaded guilty in May 2021 to six federal offenses, including sex trafficking of a child, and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.

Jane Doe 1, who was 20 when first introduced to Gaetz in summer 2017, alleges she had sex with Gaetz at a July 2017 party and later saw him have sex with a 17-year-old girl, to whom he gave $400. The complaint also claims Gaetz sent Jane Doe 1 $500 via PayPal three days after the party, the first of thirteen payments. Jane Doe 2 alleges Greenberg promised she would be well compensated, and that after taking MDMA at a party, Greenberg had sex with her and then Gaetz did. The lawsuit also alleges the defendants arranged and funded travel to various locations between December 2017 and January 2019, expecting sex in return.

I look forward to taking the plaintiffs' depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false

— Matt Gaetz

Gaetz response and prior findings

Gaetz rejected the lawsuit's allegations, stating, "I look forward to taking the plaintiffs' depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false." He added that the lawsuit relies almost exclusively on a Congressional Committee Report that didn't allow him to confront his accusers, and that he will now have that chance. He also attached a social media photo of three women in swimsuits, questioning whether they were the plaintiffs and saying they portrayed their Bahamian trip differently online.

The congressional report Gaetz refers to was part of a bipartisan House ethics committee investigation that was terminated when he resigned in November 2024. In December 2024, the committee said its investigation found that Gaetz made payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex and drugs on at least 20 occasions, and that in 2017 he engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.