A defense lawyer representing Rep. Matt Gaetz’s former girlfriend rejected liberals’ claims that federal prosecutors allowed the Florida Republican to skate in an alleged sex-trafficking case.
In an exclusive interview with CNN on Saturday, attorney Tim Jansen said prosecutors actually went hard at Gaetz over the allegations, and ultimately made the right decision not to prosecute because the evidence wasn’t there.
The case against Gaetz began in late 2020.
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The claims came from one of Gaetz’s former associates, former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to charges of sex trafficking a minor, identity theft and fraud in May 2021 and was later sentenced to 11 years in prison. Greenberg alleged that Gaetz paid him for arranging sexual encounters with young women through Venmo.
Gaetz repeatedly and adamantly denied the accusations. He was vindicated last week when the Justice Department said it was dropping the case after more than two years of investigation.
CNN reported last week that Jansen’s unnamed client was a key witness in the government’s investigation of the Fort Walton Beach Republican, and had testified in the probe last year before a grand jury in Orlando.
As CNN reported, “Jansen, who said the DOJ thoroughly pursued leads against Gaetz, disputed the notion that the congressman was cleared because he was in a powerful position, arguing that the evidence against Gaetz simply wasn’t credible and couldn’t hold up in court.”
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“They turned over every stone. And I think they ultimately made a decision that they didn’t have evidence to prove a crime,” Jansen told CNN.
“And I know critics think that the congressman somehow bought it off or somehow used his power, but I found (federal prosecutor) Todd (Gee) very responsible. He was very organized. He had evidence that he believed that he was following, and they made a determination that they weren’t going to charge.”
According to Jansen, federal investigators initially threatened to prosecute his client and told her she could be included as a target in the probe. She became a witness and cooperated.
Jansen told CNN that the feds ran into trouble, however. For one thing, Greenberg’s credibility was an issue, and there were inconsistencies in the testimony of women who were suspected victims of Gaetz. The decision to drop the case was made by Gee, a deputy chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity section.
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“In order to prosecute a case, you have to have credible evidence, either tangible witnesses, and in this case, there was no credible evidence of any wrongdoing,” Jansen told CNN.
“Joel Greenberg was somebody who (you) couldn’t put on the witness stand, as a prosecutor. I believe these women; none of them believed they were victims of any crime.”
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