Justice Department reportedly added 2 top prosecutors to the Matt Gaetz sex trafficking case


After weeks of brutal headlines in the spring about a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has been keeping a pretty low profile recently, with fewer campaign events and zero appearances on Fox News — and his fundraising has withered with the faded spotlight, The Daily Beast reported Thursday. In the most recent quarter, from July through September, Gaetz reported raising just under $500,000 and spending $613,000. In the previous two quarters, Gaetz raised $1.8 million and $1.3 million respectively.
But while news coverage of the investigation has waned, the investigation has apparently been humming along. Gaetz's former "wingman," Joel Greenberg, got a judge on Monday to delay his sentencing on sex trafficking and other charges to March, from November, because prosecutors said he is continuing to provide valuable assistance in their broader investigation. Greenberg pleaded guilty in May to sex-trafficking the same 17-year-old girl he says he saw Gaetz have sex with, among other charges.
The Justice Department has also added two top prosecutors to the Gaetz investigation, The New York Times and ABC News reported Thursday, each citing two sources familiar with the matter. "The prosecutors — one a public corruption investigator with an expertise in child exploitation crimes, and the other a top leader of the public corruption unit — have been working on the Florida-based investigation for at least three months," the Times reports. "It is not unusual for prosecutors from the Justice Department in Washington to be added to local teams of federal investigators in high-profile cases that require a deep and specific expertise like sex crimes."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A Gaetz spokesman told ABC News that "Gaetz is innocent," and "no number of political operative prosecutors at a politically weaponized DOJ will change this." The investigation started last August, at the tail end of the Trump administration.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
AI is creating a luxury housing renaissance in San Francisco
Under the Radar Luxury homes in the city can range from $7 million to above $20 million
-
How carbon credits could help and hurt the climate
The explainer The credits could be allowing polluters to continue polluting
-
5 tips for building a healthy skincare routine for tweens and teens
The Week Recommends Social media is pushing overly elaborate routines for young skin
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders