Two women have filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz and two associates of running an alleged sex trafficking scheme that involved young women, drugs and travel across state lines.
The 33-page complaint was filed Monday in the Middle District of Florida and covers alleged activities from 2017 through January 2019.
It names Gaetz, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg and former Florida Republican state House member Christopher Dorworth.
The allegations remain unproven in court, and Gaetz denies wrongdoing.
Who Is Named in the Complaint
The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, were 20 and 22 when they were introduced to Gaetz in the summer of 2017, according to the lawsuit.
They allege Greenberg recruited them when they lacked stable income and brought them into a group of men that included Gaetz and Dorworth.
The complaint claims the defendants coordinated recruitment, payments, drugs and travel to arrange paid sexual encounters.
It also says Greenberg supplied controlled substances at parties and private residences where the encounters occurred.
According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe 1 received more than $6,000 from Gaetz, while Jane Doe 2 received more than $4,000.
The complaint says the payments carried descriptions such as "Being my friend," "car deductible" and "Love you."
Jane Doe 1 also alleges she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl identified in the complaint as Victim A.
The girl is not one of the two plaintiffs.
The lawsuit further alleges the defendants arranged or financed travel involving the women, other alleged victims and prominent political figures to Miami, Las Vegas, the Florida Keys and New York City.
It cites more than 150 transactions totaling over $70,000 that Greenberg allegedly made between December 2016 and December 2018 to pay women for commercial sexual acts.
Those transactions included charges to a Seminole County tax collector's office American Express card.
Greenberg is serving an 11-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2021 to multiple offenses, including sex trafficking of a minor, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, stalking and conspiracy.
The new civil complaint also seeks damages from Greenberg Dental Associates LLC and other companies affiliated with his family.
Gaetz Response and Legal Next Steps
Gaetz rejected the allegations and said the civil proceedings would give him a chance to challenge the plaintiffs' claims directly.
"I look forward to taking the plaintiffs' depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false," Gaetz said in a statement reported by the Miami Herald.
"The lawsuit relies almost exclusively on a Congressional Committee report that didn't allow me to confront my accusers.
Now I will finally have that chance."
The lawsuit draws extensively on findings from a bipartisan House Ethics Committee investigation that examined Gaetz's conduct while he was a member of Congress.
The committee's report found substantial evidence that he violated House rules and federal laws, including through alleged sexual activity involving a minor, illegal drug use, gifts and obstruction of the investigation.
Gaetz has denied wrongdoing related to the allegations, and the Department of Justice previously declined to bring criminal charges against him.
He resigned from Congress in November 2024 while the ethics investigation was nearing completion, after President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as U.
S. attorney general.
Spencer Kuvin, the Florida attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the complaint was designed to detail the alleged operation and that the legal team believes its evidence supports the claims.
"We wanted the courts to understand the full breadth of this operation," Kuvin told WPTV.
Kuvin said the plaintiffs' legal team believes text messages and other communications cited in the complaint could support their case against Gaetz and Greenberg.
"The text messages we have we believe are incredibly damaging to Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg," Kuvin told WPTV.
The attorney also said he intends to question Gaetz under oath during the civil proceedings, where testimony would be subject to penalties for perjury.
"I look forward to taking his deposition under oath where he will be under penalty of perjury — which the committee wasn't able to do," Kuvin said.
Gaetz, 44, later joined the Triumph Gulf Coast Board after being appointed by former Florida House Republican speaker Daniel Perez.
The board oversees distribution of a $1.5 billion settlement from BP related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The newly filed civil lawsuit adds to the legal and political scrutiny surrounding allegations that previously contributed to the collapse of Gaetz's attorney general nomination.
