Back in June, the Republican congressman Matt Gaetz received some unfortunate news when the GOP-controlled Ethics Committee stated—in a press release!—that it is still investigating the Florida congressman who was the subject of a 2021 Justice Department probe into whether he had sex with a minor and transported her across state lines. Specifically, the committee was looking into allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, granted special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and attempted to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.” And this week, the bad news continued on that front!

On Friday, NOTUS reported that court documents filed the previous day cited affidavits from three eyewitnesses who said the congressman attended a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with “the 17-year-old girl at the center of the alleged sex trafficking scandal.”

The minor, who was in the eleventh grade at the time, arrived in her mother’s car on July 15, 2017, at a party at the house of Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist and friend of Gaetz, according to a court filing written by defense attorneys who interviewed witnesses as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit Dorworth filed in 2023…. One eyewitness cited in the court filing, a young woman identified as KM, gave a sworn statement claiming the young girl was naked, the partygoers were there to “engage in sexual activity” and that “alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy… and marijuana” were present. The young girl was identified in the filing only as AB

Dorworth told NOTUS in a text message that he had “never met” the 17-year-old, “not once in my life.” He also claimed, “She… lies about Matt Gaetz.”

The House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz first began under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi; it was later suspended pending the Justice Department’s investigation. (The congressman has repeatedly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.) In February 2023, prosecutors announced the decision not to charge the Florida congressman, and the House of Representatives resumed its investigation shortly thereafter. Earlier this year The New York Times reported that the former Gaetz ally Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, among other charges, in 2021, cooperated with the Ethics Committee’s investigation. Vanity Fair has reached out to Gaetz’s office for comment. The congressman does not appear to have commented on the recent revelations.

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