Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is facing a new federal lawsuit accusing him of participating in a sex trafficking operation involving young women, illegal drugs and trips across state lines.
Two women filed the 33-page civil complaint in the Middle District of Florida, naming Gaetz, former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg and former Florida state lawmaker Christopher Dorworth as defendants.
The lawsuit alleges that the three men participated in or financially supported an operation that recruited financially vulnerable women for paid sexual encounters between 2017 and January 2019.
Gaetz, 44, has denied the allegations and is preparing to challenge the claims in court.
“I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz said in a statement. “The lawsuit relies almost exclusively on a Congressional Committee report that didn’t allow me to confront my accusers. Now I will finally have that chance.”
According to the complaint, the two plaintiffs were 20 and 22 years old when they were introduced to Gaetz during the summer of 2017.
Both women reported having unstable incomes when Greenberg allegedly recruited them through SeekingArrangement.com, a website associated with financially supported dating arrangements.
The lawsuit contends that Greenberg subsequently introduced the women to a group of politically connected men, including Gaetz and Dorworth.
The plaintiffs allege that drugs were provided during gatherings at private residences and parties where sexual encounters took place.
One woman also claims she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, identified in the complaint as “Victim A.” The teenager is not among the two plaintiffs bringing the lawsuit.
Financial transactions are another central component of the allegations.
According to the complaint, Gaetz allegedly paid one plaintiff more than $6,000 and the other more than $4,000, with payment descriptions including “Being my friend,” “car deductible” and “Love you.”
The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants arranged and financed travel involving the women and other individuals to destinations including Miami, Las Vegas, the Florida Keys and New York City.
Greenberg, who previously served as Seminole County tax collector, is currently serving an 11-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2021 to multiple offenses, including sex trafficking of a minor, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, stalking and conspiracy, per the Miami Herald.
The complaint also references more than 150 financial transactions totaling over $70,000 that Greenberg allegedly made between December 2016 and December 2018 to pay women for commercial sex.
Some transactions were allegedly charged to a government-issued American Express card.
The lawsuit revives allegations that previously became the subject of a congressional investigation.
Gaetz resigned from Congress in 2024 shortly after President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as U.S. attorney general. His nomination ultimately collapsed amid controversy surrounding the misconduct allegations.
A bipartisan House Ethics Committee investigation subsequently became public, concluding that substantial evidence indicated Gaetz had engaged in conduct violating House rules and federal laws.
Among the committee’s findings were allegations involving paid sexual encounters with a minor, illegal drug use, improper gifts and obstruction of the investigation.
Gaetz has disputed the committee’s findings.
The controversy took another turn Thursday when Gaetz posted a photograph on X apparently attempting to identify women connected to the lawsuit.
The image showed three women wearing bikinis, photographed from behind. Gaetz suggested they were connected to the allegations but acknowledged to a Miami Herald reporter that he was uncertain whether any appeared in the photograph.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Spencer Kuvin, has indicated he intends to question Gaetz under oath.
“I look forward to taking his deposition under oath where he will be under penalty of perjury — which the committee wasn’t able to do,” Kuvin said.
The lawsuit seeks financial damages from the defendants and several companies associated with Greenberg’s family.
The allegations remain unproven in the civil proceedings, and no finding of liability has been made against Gaetz in the new case.
