Disgraced former Congressman Matt Gaetz is facing a new lawsuit alleging that the Florida Republican participated in a sex trafficking scheme.
The federal civil complaint accuses Gaetz and two co-defendants of involvement in activities involving young women, illicit drugs, and interstate travel, the Miami Herald first reported.
The 38-page complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against Gaetz, former Florida state Rep. Chris Dorworth, and Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, according to MS NOW. The plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, are reportedly seeking a jury trial.
“I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz said in a statement. “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 suit comes amid years of scrutiny over Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct. The former congressman resigned in November 2024 after President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as U.S. attorney general. Gaetz failed to secure enough support and withdrew his nomination.
His abrupt resignation from Congress came just days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on whether to release a report detailing its findings from an investigation into sexual misconduct, The Daily Wire previously reported. The Ethics Committee concluded that it found evidence that Gaetz violated statutory rape laws and paid multiple women for sex between 2017 and 2020. The investigation reportedly centered on a girl who was 17 at the time, was homeless, and wanted money to help pay for braces.
In 2017, when she met the then-congressman, the girl was a high school junior living in Florida who was offering to have sex with men for money, according to court documents obtained by The New York Times.
The girl reportedly worked at McDonald’s to earn money, according to a House Ethics Committee report. To make extra cash, she signed up for a website that connected older men with younger women ages 18 and older for “sugar dating” relationships.
Through the website, she first met Greenberg, a tax collector and friend of Gaetz. Greenberg paid her for sex multiple times before taking her to a party on July 15, 2017, at the home of Dorworth, then a lobbyist for Ballard Partners.
Gaetz also attended the party and, according to the girl’s testimony to the Ethics Committee, had sex with her twice. One of those encounters allegedly took place on a “pool table or … air hockey table.”
Under Florida law, sexual activity between a person 24 or older and a 16- or 17-year-old is a felony.
The Ethics Committee report also said Gaetz allegedly used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
Gaetz has denied having sex with the minor and previously insisted she would not sue him because her story was false.
“I never had sex with this person,” the former congressman told the Times in a text message. “This person threatened me with a lawsuit if I didn’t pay her $2.3 million dollars. … She never sued me because her story is fiction.”
In 2022, Greenberg was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, and several other crimes. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Gaetz.
Meanwhile, the disgraced former lawmaker is scheduled to speak at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in December. The Daily Wire reached out to the organization to confirm whether those plans remain in place.
The first speaker drop of AmericaFest 2026 is HERE 🔥
Restore the culture. Reclaim America.
Be there: https://t.co/kMi2p7BBuS https://t.co/L5OJtsGL4S
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) October 8, 2026
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