Current allegations against former Congressman Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. attorney general, are likely only “the tip of the iceberg,” according to a lawyer representing two women who testified that Gaetz paid them for sex.
Gaetz, formerly the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation and federal criminal probe into allegations including sexual misconduct, was nominated by Trump to become the nation’s legal authority on November 13, with the president-elect at the time praising him as a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” who would “root out systemic corruption” in government.
A report on the House probe was effectively blocked from release by Gaetz resigning just after being nominated by Trump. A firestorm of controversy has since erupted over demands that the report be released ahead of Gaetz’s Senate confirmation hearings, with some Republicans calling for the report to be made public.
The report is likely to contain testimony from two women represented by Florida attorney Joel Leppard. The women, who also testified as part of the federal investigation, allege that Gaetz paid them for sex at “sex parties” that the Republican attended in 2017 and 2018. One of the women also claims that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
During a CNN appearance on Tuesday night, Leppard suggested that testimony from his clients is “just a fraction” of evidence likely to be in the ethics report, arguing that evidence to support ethical violations by Gaetz is likely to be “overwhelming.”
“You have to understand my clients are only two out of the over a dozen witnesses that testified,” Leppard told CNN’s Erin Burnett. “I was present for two of those. So, what I’m telling you is just a fraction of evidence that’s available, of the thousands of documents and the 25 subpoenas, 12 witnesses.”
“It’s probably the tip of the iceberg,” he added. “The evidence that the House has, I would presume, is overwhelming because my clients were just two of the witnesses. And there are very important witnesses who have yet to come out and give a preview of what the House Ethics Committee results might show.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as further information becomes available.
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