Joel Greenberg’s decision to cooperate with federal investigators doesn’t bode well for a certain Florida congressman, and it looks like more than a few people know it. A plane carrying a banner that read “Tick Tock Matt Gaetz” flew over Orlando’s federal courthouse on the morning that Greenberg entered a plea deal that included pleading guilty to sex trafficking charges.
Reports have pointed toward Greenberg and Gaetz having a rather unseemly friendship. Gaetz made public Venmo payments to the former Seminole County tax collector that appeared to be for escort services. Greenberg paid out the exact amount sent to him by Gaetz to several young women under euphemisms like “tuition.” The Daily Beast claims to have obtained a letter from Greenberg in which he admitted both he and Gaetz paid an underage girl for sex.
In Gaetz’s home district, a billboard insinuating that the congressman was a sex offender was put up by a liberal PAC. Gaetz has roundly rejected the allegations, saying that they are part of an extortion plot by members of the Department of Justice.
Florida’s top elected Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, has lamented the ongoing leaks and reports around the Gaetz investigation. Fried, who worked closely with Gaetz on the issue of medical marijuana in Florida, said that investigators need to share what they know or let the congressman get on with his life. Given the cooperation of Greenberg, it’s likely that the feds’ knowledge will get a lot more concrete in coming days.
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This article appears in May 12-18, 2021.