The development suggests that the Justice Department may have secured a key witness in its child sex trafficking investigation of Representative Matt Gaetz.
A former girlfriend of Representative Matt Gaetz testified on Wednesday before a federal grand jury in Orlando scrutinizing whether he broke sex trafficking laws, according to two people briefed on the case. The development suggests that the Justice Department may have secured a key witness in its inquiry, which is seeking to determine whether Mr. Gaetz provided goods or payments to a 17-year-old girl in exchange for sex. Mr. Gaetz, a Republican, has represented a district in western Florida since 2017. The witness, who testified in Federal District Court, dated Mr. Gaetz for about two years, beginning in 2017, and she remained in contact with him after their relationship ended, according to a person who knew the couple at the time. She met Mr. Gaetz through one of his former confidants, Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty last year to a series of charges — including sex trafficking a minor — and is now cooperating in the investigation, the person said.
