Exclusive: House Ethics’ Venmo and PayPal records showing Gaetz allegedly paid two witnesses over $10k, obtained by ABC News:
ABC previously reported the committee subpoenaed Venmo for Gaetz’ records
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The House Ethics Committee obtained records, including a check and records of Venmo payments, that appear to show that then-Rep. Matt Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who were later witnesses in sexual misconduct probes conducted by both the House and the Justice Department.
The Venmo records show that between July 2017 and late January 2019, Gaetz — who was first elected in 2016 — allegedly made 27 Venmo payments totaling $10,224.02 to the two witnesses, who were over the age of 18 at the time.
The payments, which sources said were displayed during closed-door testimony, ranged from $100 to more than $700 each.
House investigators had subpoenaed Venmo for Gaetz’s records and had been showing them to witnesses, asking if they were for sex or drugs. The Venmo records totaling over $10,000 in payments were shown to the witnesses, who testified that some of the payments were from Gaetz and were for sex.
Descriptions in the “Notes” section for some of the alleged Venmo payments from Gaetz included labels such as “Gift,” “Car deductible,” “Cartrages,” and “Refreshments.” Other entries referenced “travel,” and one listed a payment for a flight and the phrase “extra 4 u.”
That flight payment appears to align with a September 2018 trip to the Bahamas, which was part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Gaetz.
In other payments, emojis like a wrapped gift or the hug emoji are used, the records show.
The payment records also show that in early January 2019, both witnesses received mirroring payments labeled for “travel” around the time Gaetz allegedly arranged for two women to fly to New York for sex and to accompany him to an appearance on the Fox News show “Outnumbered,”.
The Ethics Committee also obtained a signed check made out to cash and dated October 2018, from Gaetz for $750, with the memo reading “tuition reimbursement.” A witness testified to the committee that Gaetz gave her the check, according to a source familiar with the matter. Gaetz’s name is printed at the top left of the check along with an address.
abcnews.go.com/US/gaetz-10k-venmo-payments-2-women-testified-house/story?id=116019367
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