Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, allegedly paid for two women to travel to New York in 2019 to have sex, watch his appearance on Fox News and attend the Broadway show “Pretty Woman,” a lawyer for women told ABC News.
In an interview with ABC News’ Juju Chang, Florida attorney Joel Leppard revealed new details regarding his clients’ closed-door testimony before the private bipartisan committee — including that his clients told congressional investigators that Gaetz paid for them to travel across state lines to have sex on at least two occasions.
The lawyer also said the women provided the committee with text messages they allegedly exchanged with Gaetz about acquiring drugs and payments that the lawyer said were partly for sex.
Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump picked last week to serve as his attorney general, has denied any wrongdoing. The Justice Department declined to charge Gaetz last year after a yearlong investigation into the allegations, and members of the House Ethics Committee are considering releasing a report summarizing the findings of their own investigation into Gaetz after he resigned from Congress following Trump’s announcement.
“Matt Gaetz will be the next attorney general. He is the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system,” Trump’s transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer told ABC News regarding all the allegations involving Gaetz.
“These are baseless allegations designed to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing,” Pfeiffer said of the allegations and the DOJ’s decision not to file charges, which the Justice Department began investigating during the first Trump administration.
Leppard described to ABC News the trip to New York, which he says his clients testified Gaetz paid for in January 2019.
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump in Henderson, Nev., Oct. 31, 2024.
Mike Blake/Reuters, FILE
“They testified that they met with Matt Gaetz in New York in January 2019 for his appearance on Fox News … Mr. Gates paid them for the tickets to come to New York for the trip,” Leppard Chang said. “They were told to go and have sex with Rep. Gaetz and then they could go out and see a show that they wanted to see that night. So basically, take care of things and then later they could have funny.
According to Leppard, his clients told the ethics committee that Gaetz paid for them to travel to New York in January 2019 to have sex during a trip during which the then-congressman appeared on the Fox News talk show “Outnumbered.”
Gaetz — who was reportedly already with another woman in New York — brought the women to visit the Fox News studios, have dinner and then to see the play “Pretty Woman,” a show about a wealthy businessman who falls in love with a prostitute , said the lawyer.
ABC News independently confirmed that Gaetz appeared in studio at Fox News on January 4, 2019, a day the attorney said his clients testified they spent time with Gaetz and that the show “Pretty Woman” ran on Broadway at that time.
“Their testimony is that Rep. Gaetz took them across state lines for the purpose of having sex and paid them for it?” Chang asked.
“That is correct,” Leppard replied.
Summarizing what his clients told the House Ethics Committee, Leppard told ABC News that Gaetz allegedly had sex with his clients — who were adults at the time — on approximately 10 to 15 occasions, primarily during drug-fueled parties or less apartments as private. traveling to New York or the Bahamas, and on many of these occasions was paid for sex by the then congressman.
“They testified to Parliament that that was their understanding of the payments, that that was why they were there, to have a good time, to have fun, to be free and to have sex with the gentlemen present , including Rep. Gaetz,” Leppard said.
According to Leppard, the men who attended the parties ranged in age from 30 to 50, while the women were between 19 and 21 years old.
“Both of my clients testified that they had sex with Rep. Gaetz and that the payments they received from him were in part for sexual favors,” Leppard said.
Leppard detailed that his clients testified that Gaetz also paid for them to travel to the Bahamas with other young women, including the woman who has alleged the then-congressman had sex with her when she was a minor.
“It was a vacation to the Bahamas and they were my clients, the former minor, as well as a couple of other women, and of course the gentleman who was present,” Leppard said, referring to the former 17-year-old who was over 18 at the time of the Bahamas trip.
The Bahamas trip had been part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz, sources previously told ABC News, which ultimately did not result in charges against the congressman.
“They testified to Congress that the trip itself was payment,” Leppard said, clarifying that his clients were not compensated financially beyond their travel and expenses during that trip.
According to Leppard, the years-long relationship with Gaetz has continued to weigh on his clients, who believe the information they have provided in hours of testimony across multiple investigations should come to light.
Leppard said the two women told the House panel how they spent years in counseling — paid for by the Federal Bureau of Investigation — after the investigation.
“The House asked, ‘Do you think you’re a victim of Matt Gaetz?’ Leppard said. “My client paused and said, ‘That’s a hard question for me to ask,’ and then she started crying and she basically said she’s been through counseling.”
“My clients have been receiving counseling paid for by the FBI for years,” Leppard said.
Leppard added that his clients say their sexual interactions with Gaetz were fully consensual and that they voluntarily participated in the parties.
“They testified that everything they did was consensual, that they were never forced to do anything,” Leppard said. “They testified that the drugs sometimes impaired their judgment and that they were expected to take drugs, but then they were never forced to take drugs, but that the drugs made it easier to do what they did.”
Leppard said his clients — one of whom was a student at the time — decided to attend the parties where they had sex with Gaetz and others to earn enough money to pay rent.
“It was the kind of situation where they’re literally like, ‘Hey, I’m going to make rent this month. Let’s go out and go to some of these events,’ and ‘Here’s how we’re going to pay rent.’
Leppard also said his clients provided the House Ethics Committee with text messages and reviewed Venmo records, which they said documented Gaetz’s alleged payments for sex and coded requests for illegal drugs, including marijuana and MDMA, that Gaetz and his former friend Joel Greenberg referenced to in messages such as “vitamins” or “party favors”.
“The party favors, of course, meant MDMA or Molly, which was consumed at every single one of these events,” Leppard said.
“[Gaetz] would ask using terms like “vitamins” or his favorite term was “party favors”. So he can say, ‘Who’s bringing the party favors’ … or ‘Make sure we have party favors,'” the lawyer said.
Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after striking a deal with prosecutors in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to several federal crimes, including sex trafficking a woman when she was a minor and introducing her to other “grown men” , who also had sex with her when she was a minor.
Leppard’s client told House investigations that taking MDMA or ecstasy was “more or less an expectation” for attendees at the sex parties, although she did not directly see Gaetz take ecstasy, the lawyer said.
“She testified that she saw Rep. Gaetz who appeared to be under the influence of drugs and that she witnessed, I believe, at times, him ingesting marijuana,” Leppard said.
According to Leppard, both of his clients were paid to entertain and have sex with partygoers.
“They came together to party, do drugs and have sex, basically,” Leppard said.
Leppard said the payments from Gaetz ranged between $200 and $500 and were labeled as nondescript purchases, such as gas or hotel trips. The women would occasionally have sex without payment, instances that Gaetz or Greenberg requested by asking for a “Customer Appreciation Week.”
According to Leppard, both of his clients confirmed to the House Ethics Committee that the payments were in exchange for sexual favors.
“The house was very aware of that and reviewed each one. They essentially put the Venmo payments on the screen and asked about them. And my clients repeatedly testified, ‘What was this payment for?’ “It was for sex,” Leppard said.
Leppard emphasized that both women have spoken with investigators — during both the House investigation and the Justice Department investigation — for years and denied that their claims are in any way politically motivated.
“Now that they’ve been through all that, they don’t want to go through this again, and now that Rep. Gaetz is considered to be the most powerful law enforcement officer in the country, I think that’s relevant information for the American people to consider,” Leppard said.
