And that was just his eyebrows. You see, this wasn't exactly the first time Gaetz sent shockwaves through the press.
Who can forget when, seemingly out of nowhere, Gaetz announced that he had a 19-year-old Cuban son named Nestor?
Or even before that, in 2018, when he invited a well-known Holocaust denier as his guest at the president's annual State of the Union address?
Of course, more recently, Gaetz sucked all the air out of the Big Top of the post-election U.S. media circus for nearly a Scaramucci after President-elect Donald Trump announced he was nominating the 42-year-old for U.S. attorney general.
The move came as a major shock even to Gaetz's fellow Republicans, who realized that if things went as Trump apparently planned, this particular Florida Man would be leading the very same U.S. Department of Justice that not too long ago had declined to press charges after investigating allegations that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party (maybe twice).
Gaetz's abrupt pull-out followed growing pressure on the U.S. House Committee on Ethics to release the findings of its seemingly interminable investigation into allegations of illegal drug use and sexual misconduct, including accusations that Gaetz, now 42, had paid as much as $10,000 to have sex with the aforementioned teen when he was in his mid-30s.
If you've been struggling to keep up with [gestures widely], you're not alone.
Below is a link-filled, chronological roundup of major developments in the tawdry allegations against our Miami-born Florida Man since they first surfaced in the spring of 2021.
March 30, 2021
"Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl" (New York Times): The Times was first to report that the DOJ was investigating allegations that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and looking into whether he had paid for her cross-state travel — potentially a violation of the Mann Act. The Times reported that the probe stemmed from a criminal investigation into former Seminole County, Florida, tax collector Joel Greenberg, who had been indicted for misappropriating taxpayer money and sex trafficking a minor, among other charges."Matt Gaetz Responds to Sex Trafficking Allegations" (Tucker Carlson Tonight): In an interview Carlson himself described as "weird," Gaetz denied the allegations in the Times story and said he was the victim of a $25 million extortion plot, claiming that his father, Don Gaetz, was wearing a wire to help the FBI expose the scam.
March 31, 2021
"Gaetz Investigation Complicated by Overture to His Father About Ex-FBI Agent Who Went Missing" (Washington Post): The alleged extortion plot is tied to Iranian hostage Bob Levinson, a retired FBI agent from Florida who went missing in Iran in 2007. Gaetz claimed that lawyers for Levinson approached his father, Don Gaetz, and said that if the family put up $25 million for Levinson's release, the DOJ would drop the sex-trafficking investigation against Gaetz they'd heard about. The attorneys denied any characterizations of extortion, saying they were simply trying to advocate for Levinson's release and thought the congressman had an incentive to help play a part in the hostage's return to the U.S.April 1, 2021
"Justice Dept. Inquiry Into Matt Gaetz Said to Be Focused on Cash Paid to Women" (New York Times): The Times reported that the DOJ is investigating allegations that Gaetz and Joel Greenberg used apps like Apple Pay and Cash App to pay for sex with women they recruited on online "sugar daddy" websites, and that they sometimes took ecstasy "before having sex." A source told the Times that one of the women also had sex with "an unidentified associate of theirs in Florida Republican politics." Gaetz denied paying for sex."Gaetz Showed Nude Photos of Women He Said He'd Slept With to Lawmakers, Sources Tell CNN" (CNN): Sources alleged that Gaetz had shown nude photos and videos of women he had sex with to his colleagues in the House of Representatives, including while on the House floor.
April 5, 2021
"Rep. Matt Gaetz: The Swamp Is Out to Drown Me With False Charges, But I'm Not Giving Up" (Washington Examiner): In an op-ed for the right-leaning Washington Examiner, Gaetz claimed he was being targeted for his support of Donald Trump and said that he considered the accusations mere sex-shaming. "Consensual adult relationships are not illegal," he wrote."Matt Gaetz, Loyal for Years to Trump, Is Said to Have Sought a Blanket Pardon" (New York Times): Sources told the Times that before Trump left office, Gaetz sought "blanket pre-emptive pardons for himself and unidentified congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed." Gaetz and Trump denied that.
April 7, 2021
"Matt Gaetz Trip to Bahamas Is Part of Federal Probe Into Sex Trafficking, Sources Say" (CBS News): The Gaetz probe is first linked to Jason Pirozzolo, a Florida hand surgeon and marijuana mogul. CBS reported that investigators were looking into whether Pirozzolo paid for travel expenses and escorts for Gaetz during a trip to the Bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019."Matt Gaetz Under Fire: Here's What We Know" (Florida Politics): Sources told Florida Politics publisher Peter Schorsch that Halsey Beshears, former secretary of Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation, is the third Republican "unidentified associate" involved in the sex allegations against Gaetz and Greenberg. Beshears resigned from office in January, citing health issues.
April 8, 2021
"Gaetz's Female Staffers Defend Boss Amid DOJ Probe" (The Hill): A letter from women who work in Gaetz's office stated that "at no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect." None of the women signed by name."Indicted Matt Gaetz Associate Is Expected to Plead Guilty, Lawyers Say" (New York Times): Attorneys for Greenberg said in court that he plans to plead guilty, with one of the lawyers suggesting that might be bad news for Gaetz. The Times also reported that investigators were looking into an allegation that Gaetz and a lobbyist were involved in planting a fake candidate in a Florida Senate race the previous year in order to influence the outcome. In the same story, the Times provided additional detail about the Bahamas trip, saying that when immigration authorities stopped two planes carrying Gaetz's group upon its return to Fort Lauderdale, Beshears was among the passengers.
"Gaetz Paid Accused Sex Trafficker, Who Then Venmo'd Teen" (Daily Beast): Per the Daily Beast, in May 2018, Gaetz paid $900 to Greenberg in two transactions. One of those transactions was sent with the memo "hit up [redacted name of young woman]." Greenberg then forwarded the payments to three young women with the memos "Tuition," "School," and "School."
April 9, 2021
"House Opens Ethics Investigation Into Florida Republican Matt Gaetz" (Washington Post): The U.S. House Committee on Ethics announced that it had opened an investigation into the allegations against Gaetz.September 20, 2024
"New Court Filings Place Matt Gaetz at 'Sex Party' With 17-Year-Old in 2017" (Miami New Times): Court documents filed in September placed Gaetz and the teenager at the heart of the alleged sex-trafficking scandal at a cocaine-and-booze-stoked sex party at the Seminole County home of Chris Dorwoth, a lobbyist and former Republican state legislator.November 18, 2024
"Lawyer Says His Client Testified That She Saw Gaetz Having Sex With Underage Girl" (New York Times): Joel Leppard, an attorney representing two women who claim Gaetz paid them for sex, told CBS News, ABC News, and CNN that one of the women had told the House committee that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl at a house party in 2017."Gaetz Allegedly Flew 2 Women to New York, Paid Them for Sex: Attorney" (ABC News): In an interview with ABC News' Juju Chang, Leppard alleged that in 2019 Gaetz flew two women to New York to have sex, watch his appearance on Fox News, and then see the Broadway show Pretty Woman.
"Court Filings Place Matt Gaetz at a Second Drug-Fueled Party in 2017" (NOTUS.org): A little-noticed affidavit buried in the same court documents that first revealed Gaetz's alleged presence at a "drug-fueled sex party" claims he attended a second such party a week after the first, again in the company of women who were paid to attend.
November 20, 2024
"Federal Inquiry Traced Payments From Gaetz to Women" (New York Times): The Times reported that prior to closing its investigation into Gaetz's actions without filing any charges, the Department of Justice had traced "a web of payments" from Gaetz and others that went to dozens of people who allegedly attended drug-fueled sex parties from 2017 to 2020. Among those who received money were the two women who testified to the House Ethics Committee that the former congressman paid them for sex. By the the DOJ's calculations, the pair received a total of $10,000.November 21, 2024
"Matt Gaetz May Have Just Killed the Ethics Report, but Court Filings Paint a Damning Picture" (NOTUS.org): References to sealed records unearthed by Jose Pagliery, a political investigations reporter for NOTUS.org, reveal that a woman testified that she had sex with Gaetz on an air hockey table when she was 17 and he was 35, and that two women alleged that Gaetz's then-girlfriend entertained guests at the July 2017 party by dancing naked with a hula hoop. The records also included tidbits from a deposition in which lobbyist Chris Dorworth said Gaetz once texted him that he was about to drop off his girlfriend at a bus stop and then "get Botox"; another time, Dorworth said, Gaetz joked that he "didn't use condoms.""Ethics Committee Told of Second Sexual Encounter Between Matt Gaetz and 17-Year-Old at Party, Sources Say" (CNN): Less than an hour before Gaetz announced he was withdrawing from consideration as U.S. attorney general, CNN called the ex-congressman in reference to the then-17-year-old woman at the center of the allegations, who is said to have told the ethics committee about a second sexual encounter with Gaetz at the initial July 2017 party — this one including another woman.
