Former Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz is facing a new legal battle after two women filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing him and two associates of participating in an alleged scheme involving paid sexual encounters, drugs and the recruitment of young women. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleges that Gaetz, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg and former Florida state lawmaker Christopher Dorworth participated in or financially supported a system that exploited vulnerable women between 2017 and January 2019.
In a statement to Newsweek, the attorney representing the two women said he believes Gaetz and the other defendants should face criminal prosecution over their alleged actions. "We believe that Gaetz and the other named defendants should be criminally prosecuted for their actions. Power and privilege are not a license to exploit the vulnerable," said Spencer Kuvin, the attorney for Jane Does 1 and 2.
"We filed suit against former Congressman Matt Gaetz and others to hold them accountable for alleged sex trafficking." He also issued a blunt warning to the former lawmaker who was once a close ally of President Donald Trump. "No one is above the law, and no victim should be beneath its protection," Kuvin said. Gaetz has denied the allegations and said he intends to challenge the plaintiffs' accounts under oath.
"I look forward to taking the plaintiffs' depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false," Gaetz said in a statement to the Miami Herald. He also criticized the reliance on a congressional investigation, arguing that he had not been given an opportunity to confront his accusers during that process. The lawsuit marks a new development in a controversy that derailed Gaetz's nomination to serve as U.S. attorney general in 2024 and preceded his resignation from Congress.
Newsweek has reached out to Gaetz via OAN. Kuvin pushed back against the prospect that Gaetz might characterize the encounters as voluntary, arguing that initial agreement to spend time with a wealthy or powerful man does not necessarily rule out exploitation. Gaetz will undoubtedly try to paint this as a voluntary activity, the fact that a young woman initially agrees to spend time with a wealthy, powerful man does not give that man a license to exploit her," Kuvin told Newsweek.
"Sex trafficking is not always about kidnapping, chains, or physical force. It can involve fraud, coercion, financial manipulation, and the abuse of vulnerability," he said. The attorney said the complaint alleges that the defendants exploited young women's financial insecurity and used drugs and promises of money to exert control over them.
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