President Donald Trump’s initial pick to be U.S. attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has been named as a defendant in a federal civil lawsuit alleging he participated in a sex trafficking scheme involving young women and illegal drugs that crossed state lines.
The 33-page complaint was filed Monday in the Middle District of Florida by attorney Spencer Kuvin on behalf of two women identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2.
I look forward to taking the plaintiffs’ depositions because much of the conduct alleged against me is false,” Gaetz, 44, a former Florida congressman, said in a statement to The Independent. “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.”
According to the lawsuit, seen by the Miami Herald, the alleged incidents took place between 2017 and January 2019. The suit names two other defendants: former Florida GOP congressman Christopher Dorworth and former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg.
Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year federal prison sentence following a 2021 guilty plea for sex trafficking of a minor, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, stalking and conspiracy.
The allegations mark the latest development in Gaetz’s high-profile sex scandal, which ultimately derailed his nomination by Trump as U.S. Attorney General and led to his resignation from Congress in 2024. His departure came as a bipartisan House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of an investigation into his alleged misconduct.
The lawsuit alleges that Greenberg recruited vulnerable women without stable income using the website SeekingArangement.com, introducing them to a network that included Gaetz and Dorworth. The plaintiffs contend the defendants provided controlled substances at parties and private residences to facilitate commercial sex encounters.
Jane Doe 1 was 20 and Jane Doe 2 was 22 when introduced to Gaetz in the summer of 2017. The suit states Gaetz was 15 years older than Jane Doe 1 and 13 years older than Jane Doe 2, alleging the defendants used the significant age gap to manipulate the young women and maintain secrecy.
According to the complaint, Jane Doe 1 received more than $6,000 from Gaetz and Jane Doe 2 received over $4,000, with payment descriptions including “Being my friend,” “car deductible,” and “Love you.” Jane Doe 1 also alleges she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl identified in the lawsuit as “Victim A,” who is not a plaintiff in the case.
The complaint alleges that the defendants arranged and funded travel across state lines to destinations including Miami, Las Vegas, New York City and the Florida Keys for victims and political figures.
In a statement to The Independent, Gaetz shared a screenshot of an Instagram post depicting a trip to the Bahamas, which he used to dispute the claims.
“I don’t know if this is Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 or not,” Gaetz said. “But if it is they portrayed their Bahamian trip differently on social media than in their lawsuit seeking money.”
The complaint details financial records and electronic payment descriptions that attorneys claim were used to conceal commercial sex transactions.
“Between December 2016 and December 2018, the former Seminole County tax collector ran more than 150 transactions totalling over $70,000 to pay women for commercial sex acts, some of them charged to the tax collector’s office American Express card and given captions such as ‘school’ and ‘ice cream,’” according to the lawsuit.
The suit also names Greenberg Dental Associates LLC and other business entities affiliated with Greenberg’s family as defendants.
The lawsuit cites a House Ethics Committee report made public following an investigation into Gaetz’s conduct. That inquiry concluded there was “substantial evidence” Gaetz violated House rules and federal laws by paying for sex with a minor, using illegal drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy, accepting improper gifts, falsely obtaining a passport for a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship and obstructing the investigation.
“At the time of this venture, Gaetz was a sitting member of Congress, holding himself out to be one of President Donald J. Trump’s closest confidants and most loyal supporters,” the lawsuit says.
Kuvin expressed confidence in moving forward with the court proceedings.
“I look forward to taking his deposition under oath where he will be under penalty of perjury — which the committee wasn’t able to do,” Kuvin said, as reported by the Miami Herald.
Gaetz now hosts a program on One America News. Former Florida House GOP Speaker Daniel Perez appointed him to the Triumph Gulf Coast Board, which oversees the distribution of a $1.5 billion settlement from the 2010 BP oil spill.
“I am returning to public service!” Gaetz announced last year regarding the appointment.
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