The lawyer for two women accusing former Rep. Matt Gaetz of paying them for sex said his clients do not want to testify publicly despite providing closed-door testimony to the House Ethics Committee. The women allege Gaetz paid them for sex multiple times and that one witnessed him having sex with a 17-year-old girl in 2017. They testified after receiving subpoenas, but their attorney, Joel Leppard, emphasized they hope the House will release the investigation report, sparing them from rehashing painful details in public. Leppard stated that his clients, who have not voted in the last two elections, are not politically motivated.
While Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is not ruling out calling the women to testify during a confirmation hearing for Attorney General, he prefers to receive information from the House Ethics Committee report or the Justice Department. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has expressed opposition to releasing the report, although House Ethics Committee members, including Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., advocate for its public release. The committee is set to meet to discuss whether to release its findings.
Gaetz has denied all allegations, and the Trump transition team has dismissed them as “baseless,” noting the Justice Department closed its investigation without charges in 2023. Despite concerns from some Democratic senators about re-traumatizing the women, Leppard asserts that if the report is released, the public will have enough information to decide Gaetz’s fitness for the role of attorney general.
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