Report: Prosecutors Recommend No Charges Against Matt Gaetz

Attorneys are worried about the credibility of two central witnesses.

AP/ Tom Williams

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Prosecutors at the Justice Department have recommended that Rep. Matt Gaetz not be charged in connection with a sex trafficking investigation, sources familiar with the case told the Washington Post. According to the paper, the federal prosecutors involved in the probe have advised their superiors at DOJ that they are worried about the credibility of two key witnesses.

According to the Post, the investigators—beginning in late 2020 during the Trump administration—”set out to determine if the congressman paid for sex in violation of federal sex-trafficking laws and have examined his dealings with [a] then-17-year-old.”

Gaetz has denied wrongdoing, asserting that’s he has never “paid for sex” and has never been involved with anyone underage. Earlier this year, during testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, a former Trump aide alleged that Gaetz had sought a preemptive pardon from Donald Trump, who Gaetz has vocally supported over the years.

According to the Post, the two witnesses in question are Gaetz’ former friend and ex-tax collector Joel Greenberg and the then-underaged girl. Last year, Greenberg pleaded guilty to child trafficking charges as well as other criminal charges. Legal experts said that establishing Greenberg’s credibility would be an uphill battle for prosecutors, in part because Greenberg previously admitted to fabricating similar allegations against a political opponent.

Senior DOJ officials have not made a final decision on whether or not to charge Gaetz. But as the Post notes, they are unlikely to overrule the prosecutors assigned to the case.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate