appeared to be under the influence of drugs and that they took ecstasy during this trip; one woman said she witnessed Representative Gaetz taking ecstasy as well.[1] Most, if not all, of the women involved had some history of sexual interactions with Representative Gaetz for which they had been paid. While there were no specific payments to the women in connection with the Bahamas trip, according to one woman, “the trip itself was more so the payment.”[2] The group returned to Orlando on September 16, 2018; Representative Gaetz flew on a private plane with another man and three women, while the remaining individuals flew on another private plane.
Representative Gaetz paid for two women to travel to New York City in January 2019 to meet up with him and his then-girlfriend. The Committee reviewed text messages in which Representative Gaetz asked the women about obtaining drugs in advance of the trip, stating, “[w]ho can help w[ith] party favors?”[3] In addition to paying for their travel costs, the Committee received evidence that Representative Gaetz sent the women money to compensate them for sexual activities they engaged in with him during the trip.[4]
While all the women that the Committee interviewed stated their sexual activity with Representative Gaetz was consensual, at least one woman felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.”[5] Indeed, nearly every woman that the Committee spoke with could not remember the details of at least one or more of the events they attended with Representative Gaetz and attributed that to drug or alcohol consumption.[6] The women also discussed instances where Representative Gaetz would try to convince them to have sex with him or Mr. Greenberg: “[H]e would make me feel bad about not having sex with him or [] Joel Greenberg” and that he would say, “Why don’t you want to have sex with me” or “[Mr. Greenberg] looks very sad over there . . . . Make him happy.”[7] Another woman said that their relationship at some point was a “loving friendship,” but over time came to feel like a “task.”[8] A third woman said, “[W]hen I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”[9] One woman said, “I think about it all the time . . . . I still see him when I turn on the tv and there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies.”[10]
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Victim A.
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Woman 5.
- ↑ Exhibit 8.
- ↑ Id.; see also Exhibit 3; 18(a) Interview of Woman 5.
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Woman 4.
- ↑ Id.; 18(a) Interview of Victim A; 18(a) Interview of Woman 1; 18(a) Interview of Woman 5.
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Victim A.
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Woman 5.
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Victim A (also commenting that she “thought all of those people were my friends . . . . I know now that [] they’re not.”).
- ↑ 18(a) Interview of Woman 13.
participate in sexual activity in the Bahamas.); 18(a) Interview of Victim A (“I joined in . . . when[] [Representative Gaetz] was with all of those women in the bedroom.”).
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