New York Times reporters have seen receipts and text messages that allegedly confirm Matt Gaetz and an associate from Florida used smartphone apps and cash machines at pay multiple women for having sex with the two men and another Florida Republican.

The men reportedly used ApplePay and another app called CashPay to transfer money to the women’s accounts.  The women were solicited online and told to meet Gaetz and/or Joel Greenberg at a specific location at a specific time.  Many times, those locations were hotels around Florida.

A former county tax collector in Florida, Greenberg is currently sitting in a Florida state prison after violating terms of bail, facing charges for various crimes including sex trafficking, stalking a political opponent and identity theft, among other things. 

According to the Times report, Greenberg would meet the young women through “sugar daddy” websites where men pay women or provide the women with meals, travel or gifts in exchange for sex.  Greenberg would then meet the women and introduce them Gaetz.  The women involved told friends that they understood a sexual encounter was expected in exchange for the gifts or compensation.

Greenberg would also set up encounters for another, unnamed Florida Republican.

According to people familiar with the encounters, Gaetz would ask the women if they could find others who would be interested in similar relationships.  Gaetz told the women to say he would pay for hotels or dinners as part of their “dates.”  FBI agents reportedly have text messages, some as recently as January 2021, from Gaetz to women detailing how they were supposed to explain Gaetz’s payments.

In some of these encounters, the women and men, including Gaetz, would use the drug ecstasy.  It is unclear who supplied the narcotic.

Gaetz has denied these charges and the charges that he engaged in sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl, for whom he allegedly arranged travel and hotels.

Gaetz’s office issued a bizarre statement denying his involvement with prostitutes.  “Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex.  Matt Gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely.  Matt Gaetz has never ever been on any such websites whatsoever.  Matt Gaetz cherishes the relationships in his past and looks forward to marrying the love of his life.”