GAETZ FACES U.S. HOUSE ETHICS QUIZ; FED PROBE WIDENS

The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation Friday into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as federal prosecutors probing sex trafficking allegations against him are also scrutinizing the actions of some of his political allies and fellow Florida Republicans as part of a broader public corruption inquiry.

Federal agents have, in recent months, been examining Gaetz’s connections to several other influential Florida political figures, Eric Tucker, Michael Balsamo and Lisa Mascaro reported for the Associated Press (AP).

They include Florida state senator Jason Brodeur; Halsey Beshears, the state’s former top business regulator, Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist who had served in the state House of Representatives and Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and Gaetz campaign donor who served on the board of the Orlando Airport Authority, a person familiar with the matter told AP.

Gaetz, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, has retained two prominent New York attorneys while facing a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls.

The scrutiny includes an examination of a trip that Gaetz and Pirozzolo took to the Bahamas with a group of women, and federal agents are looking into whether they were paid or received gifts to have sex with the men, the person said. CBS News first reported details of the trip.

But a potentially ominous sign occurred in a Florida court Thursday when it was revealed that a Gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg, a former county tax collector, is working toward a plea deal.

Such a move could potentially open the door for Greenberg’s cooperation against Gaetz.

Prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they could not discuss details publicly.

Greenberg entered a not guilty plea Friday through his attorney to a variety of charges ranging from child sex trafficking to fraud. A judge has set a May 15 deadline for Greenberg to reach a plea deal, AP writers Curt Anderson and Brendan Farrington also reported.

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