The Daily Beast: Gaetz associate wrote in letter that congressman paid for sex with minor

Joel Greenberg, a central figure in the ongoing investigation into Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Beast that he and Gaetz paid for sex with multiple women, including a minor who was 17 at the time.

The letter was drafted after Greenberg asked Roger Stone, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, for help obtaining a pardon during the final months of Trump’s term, the outlet reported.

“On more than one occasion, this individual was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself,” Greenberg wrote in the letter in reference to the minor, according to The Daily Beast.

“From time to time, gas money or gifts, rent or partial tuition payments were made to several of these girls, including the individual who was not yet 18. I did see the acts occur firsthand and Venmo transactions, Cash App or other payments were made to these girls on behalf of the Congressman.”

CNN has not seen the letter and can’t verify the details of The Daily Beast’s story.

In earlier drafts of the letter obtained by The Daily Beast, Greenberg claims that he and Gaetz had sex with a minor who they thought was 19 at the time but later learned was underage.

“Immediately I called the congressman and warned him to stay clear of this person and informed him she was underage,” Greenberg wrote, according to the outlet. “He was equally shocked and disturbed by this revelation.”

News of the letter is sure to fuel fresh scrutiny of Gaetz, who the Justice Department is investigating over allegations involving sex trafficking and prostitution.

A spokesperson for Gaetz told CNN in a statement Thursday evening, “Congressman Gaetz has never paid for sex, nor has he had sex with a 17 year old as an adult. Politico has reported Mr. Greenberg’s threats to make false accusations against others, and while The Daily Beast’s story contains a lot of confessions from Mr. Greenberg, it does not add anything of substance, and certainly no evidence for the wild and false claims about Rep. Gaetz. In fact, the story goes some way to showing how Rep. Gaetz was long out of touch with Mr. Greenberg, and had no interest in involving himself in Mr. Greenberg’s affairs.”

Greenberg’s attorney declined to comment to CNN, citing attorney-client privilege.

In a series of messages exchanged over the encrypted messaging app Signal and obtained by The Daily Beast, Greenberg wrote to Stone: “If I get you $250k in Bitcoin would that help or is this not a financial matter.”

“I understand all of this and have taken it into consideration,” Stone replied, according to the outlet. “I will know more in the next 24 hours I cannot push too hard because of the nonsense surrounding pardons.”

“I hope you are prepared to wire me $250,000 because I am feeling confident,” Stone later wrote to Greenberg.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo said Thursday evening that Stone said to him that he doesn’t buy this, he didn’t help, he never took any money from anybody, he doesn’t recall any letter and he has never heard of Greenberg implicating Gaetz. He told Cuomo that The Daily Beast’s text communications are out of context and incomplete, and that he never tried to get Greenberg a pardon.

Stone told The Daily Beast that Greenberg had tried to hire him to assist with a pardon, but he denied asking for or receiving payment. He did tell the outlet that he had Greenberg prepare “a document explaining his prosecution.”

CNN previously reported that Greenberg has been providing investigators with information since last year, including information about encounters he and Gaetz had with women who were given cash or gifts in exchange for sex.