Lawyer Joel Leppard said his client saw Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general with the minor at a party in 2017.
A woman has testified that she saw former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party several years ago, according to her lawyer.
Joel Leppard, who represents two women who testified before the House Ethics Committee, said in interviews with ABC News and CBS News that Gaetz paid his adult clients for sex. Leppard added that one of them witnessed Gaetz having sex with the 17-year-old at a party in Florida.
« She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17 », Leppard .
The House Ethics Committee had launched an investigation into Gaetz over allegations that he « engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use » and was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
The Department of Justice had also investigated allegations that he participated in child sex trafficking. No charges were brought against Gaetz, and he has denied any wrongdoing. Leppard’s clients also testified as part of the federal investigation.
Gaetz resigned from Congress after he was named as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. There has been demand on both sides of the aisle for the committee’s report to be released publicly. It is unclear whether this will happen since Gaetz is no longer in office and the House technically no longer has jurisdiction over him. The Associated Press has noted however that ethics reports have previously been released even after a resignation, though this is extremely rare.
Leppard that his client testified to the House Ethics Committee, which began investigating Gaetz in 2021, that she believed he stopped having sex with the 17-year-old when he found out her age.
