In June, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz got some unfortunate news when the GOP-controlled Ethics Committee said in a press release that it was still investigating the Florida lawmaker, who was the subject of a 2021 Justice Department investigation into whether he had sex with a minor and transported her across state lines. The committee was specifically 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 into his conduct.” And this week, the bad news on that front continued!

On Friday, NOTUS reported that court documents filed the day before revealed statements by three eyewitnesses who said the congressman had 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 her third year of high school at the time, arrived in her mother’s car for a party at the home of Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist and friend of Gaetz, according to a court filing written by defense attorneys who questioned witnesses as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit Dorworth filed in 2023…. One eyewitness named in the court filings, a young woman referred to as KM, gave a sworn statement saying the teenage girl was naked, that partygoers were there to “engage in sexual activity” and that “alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy… and marijuana” were present. The teenage girl was identified in the filings only as A.B.

Dorworth told NOTUS in a text message that he has “never met” the 17-year-old, “never in my life.” He also claimed, “She’s lying about Matt Gaetz.”

The House of Representatives ethics investigation into Gaetz initially began under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi; It was later paused amid the Justice Department investigation. (The congressman has repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing.) In February 2023, prosecutors announced they would not charge the Florida lawmaker, and the House reopened the investigation shortly thereafter. Earlier this year, The New York Times reported that the former Gaetz ally Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to human trafficking, among other charges, 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 latest revelations.

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