Matt Gaetz allegedly attended a second drug-fueled Florida party in the summer of 2017 with young women who were paid to attend, according to a little-noticed affidavit from an eyewitness filed in a federal court in Florida.
In September, NOTUS reported that Gaetz attended a party on July 15, 2017 with a 17-year-old involved in his alleged underage sex scandal, according to legal documents citing sealed affidavits by three women who attended the gathering. Gaetz, who is seeking to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer, was hit with a bar complaint immediately after the story.
Buried in those same court documents was another affidavit that described an additional party the next week at the same home belonging to Gaetz’s friend, Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth.
This fourth affidavit paints a fuller picture of the social scene surrounding the alleged sex scandal threatening Gaetz’s confirmation to be Donald Trump’s attorney general. Gaetz has denied allegations that he ever had sex with a minor or participated in child sex trafficking.
The affidavit was filed as part of a federal lawsuit Dorworth brought in 2023 against a corrupt local tax official named Joel Greenberg and the woman at the center of the former congressman’s underage sex scandal. Dorworth, who alleged that Greenberg — Gaetz’s one-time friend — and the woman conspired to drag him into a criminal investigation and ruined his reputation, dropped the case in September. He has since filed to remove testimony from the federal court record, while continuing a parallel legal fight in Florida state court.
The woman in this fourth affidavit, whose name was redacted but has been independently identified by NOTUS, was 29 years old at the time she attended the second party. In the affidavit, she said that attendees were instructed to ditch their personal devices to maintain a level of secrecy as Gaetz, Dorworth and Greenberg partied with women.
“Upon arriving at the Dorworth residence, I was asked to put my cell phone in a bowl on a counter. It was my understanding that this was done because the partygoers did not want any photographs or videos taken of the event,” the woman, referred to as “L.P.,” said in the affidavit signed Aug. 21, 2024.
“This is understandable,” she continues, “because the party included alcohol, drugs, middle-aged men and young and attractive women.”
“Mr. Dorworth welcomed many people,” she goes on, “including, without limitation, Matt Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, K.L., M.Z., and myself.”
The July 22, 2017 party was allegedly one of several of that nature. In the affidavit, L.P. said that, “Over the course of the summer and into the fall of 2017, I attended gatherings at the Dorworth residence with alcohol; cocaine; middle-aged men; and young, attractive females.”
Court filings citing sealed affidavits from three eye witnesses place a 17-year-old girl at at least one of those parties, on July 15, 2017, as NOTUS previously reported.
In an August deposition, Dorworth himself admitted that he held a party at his home on July 22, 2017. He said he woke up because one attendee, identified as K.L., “got upset and stormed out with a friend of mine’s cell phone.” Dorworth did not discuss whether Gaetz was in attendance, but did reveal that FBI agents and federal prosecutor Todd Gee met with him in Florida in 2021 to ask him about Gaetz’s presence at the previous July 15 party.
In the deposition, Dorworth stated, “I have never seen Matt Gaetz do cocaine before.”
Dorworth’s attorney, Alex Andrade, did not respond to questions about the party.
NOTUS asked Gaetz if he attended the party or can prove where he was that night, and whether he chose to quit the House of Representatives to interrupt the release of the ethics report. Jacob Bliss, who was his communications director in Congress, provided a statement attributable to a spokesperson.
“Merrick Garland’s DOJ cleared Matt Gaetz and didn’t charge him. Are you alleging Garland is part of a cover up?” the statement said.
Bliss also pointed to past tweets where Gaetz called into question any information the Ethics Committee gets from Greenberg, although this latest allegation comes from a woman – not the former congressman’s ex-wingman.
Notably, L.P. revealed in her affidavit that she previously testified about these parties to a grand jury, though it’s unclear who that grand jury was investigating.
She also described an altercation at that first party she attended, noting how another young woman, referred to as K.L., “tipped over a vase” then swiped a cell phone belonging to a man “because she had not been paid for her time at the party and wanted to use the cell phone as leverage to seek compensation.”
The affidavit includes screenshots of L.P.’s Facebook conversation with Greenberg in which she dubs her friend a “hurricane” who was “just really territorial & felt excluded” during the festivities.
Venmo records I obtained when I was working as a reporter at The Daily Beast show that Greenberg later paid M.Z. $1,030 for “pool” and K.L. $309 for “rent,” both of whom were allegedly at the July 22, 2017 party. Both transactions were initiated nine minutes apart. In a confession letter, which I also obtained while at The Daily Beast, Greenberg detailed paying women for sex and serving as a middleman for Gaetz. Greenberg also said in his confession letter that he would use fake descriptors for his Venmo payments.
Among the legal documents filed to the court in Dorworth’s case are screenshots of text message exchanges over the encrypted app Signal that were meant to self-delete after 30 minutes. According to a source familiar with the evidence, in the texts, Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend, identified in court records as “B.G.,” chats with the woman at the center of the underage sex scandal, referred to as “A.B.” The conversation shows that his alleged teen victim became apprehensive as investigators began to circle around the group.
“I want to talk to a lawyer that will be looking out for my best interest and keep me out of this,” A.B wrote.
“1000000%,” Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend B.G. responded. “I’m gonna see what M says for you.”
“M” referred to Gaetz, according to the source familiar with the evidence.
Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend used the opportunity to reassure A.B., following up with, “He said something so sweet about you girls to me yesterday btw ❤️.” Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend also probed whether the younger woman needed help.
“Do you have anyone else in mind who can get you your own good lawyer? I’m sorry love. I really am,” she wrote. “Well, I’m sorry Joel is a fuck and I’m sorry this is happening now but it will pass and I’m here for you.”
The younger woman’s response underscored the difficulties she then faced.
“Thank you! I’ll keep you updated I just rather not talk to joel about it right now till I can talk to someone I trust,” A.B. wrote back.
Separate text message records show that A.B. reluctantly met with a detective at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office at a Starbucks down the road from Disney World.
“Sorry to bug you, just wanted to let you know you and other girls are totally safe. If you want to let them know. Whatever letters, messages, etc you have will be extremely helpful,” the detective wrote. “Thanks for meeting me.”
A.B., who claims she was a minor when she first encountered Gaetz, went on to testify before a grand jury in Florida during a criminal investigation into Gaetz that lasted nearly two years. Federal prosecutors ultimately decided not to criminally charge Gaetz. The court filings place A.B. at the July 15, 2017 party, but do not make clear whether she was at subsequent parties.
Details about the alleged sex-and-drug parties and private communications between witnesses are expected to be core parts of the House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz.
Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress on Wednesday after being nominated to be Trump’s attorney general. The committee reportedly delayed its vote on whether to release the report; historically, the House Ethics committee only releases reports on sitting members of Congress.
That said, several senators of both political parties have shown an interest in seeing the report as they consider Gaetz for the position of attorney general — where he would oversee the very Justice Department that he’s railed against as a political persecution machine ever since it targeted him.
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Jose Pagliery is a reporter at NOTUS.