A hacker has allegedly accessed a computer file said to include sworn testimony from a woman who says she had sex with former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., when she was a minor, The New York Times reported. Gaetz is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the position of attorney general.
The file allegedly includes 24 total exhibits, including testimony from a witness corroborating the woman’s testimony, as well as from friends and allies of Gaetz. Some of the exhibits, including the testimony of Gaetz’s accuser, are under seal by the U.S. Justice Department and the House Committee on Ethics.
A person with knowledge of the activity told The Times that a person accessed a secure link to the file on the afternoon of Monday, Nov. 18. It had been shared among lawyers defending the woman who alleges having sex with Gaetz when she was a minor, and Joel Greenberg, a former ally of Gaetz who is serving a prison sentence on federal sex trafficking charges.
Christopher Dorworth, a Florida businessman and friend of Gaetz, is suing the two alleging defamation after they told federal authorities that Dorworth hosted parties where he and Gaetz would engage in drug use and sexual activity.
The Justice Department investigated Gaetz on charges including sex trafficking but decided to not press charges. The House Committee on Ethics had been investigating Gaetz, but the Florida Republican resigned before the report could be released.
House members on the Ethics Committee are set to vote Wednesday, Nov. 20, on whether to release the material gathered in the Gaetz investigation. While the motives of the hacker are unclear, The Times says that it does not appear that the hacker has made the material public.
