News reports claim hacker obtained files with damaging testimony for Matt Gaetz and his nomination as attorney general
The New York Times claims that an unidentified individual downloaded information from a folder shared among lawyers handling cases related to Gaetz.
Matt Gaetz in a file image, surrounded by police officers.
An unidentified hacker accessed files with content devastating to the public image of Republican Matt Gaetz, nominated by Trump as attorney general, but pending Senate approval. That's what the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
According to the Times, the leaked file is comprised of 24 exhibits and includes sworn testimony from a woman who said she had sexual relations with Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony from a second woman who said she witnessed the encounter.
Thus, the leaked documents are related to the already known allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual relations with an underage girl in the past. In this case, the Department of Justice never filed charges, but it is known that Gaetz is being investigated.
According to the Times, the hacker downloaded the documents when they gained access to a folder shared among attorneys for individuals who have testimony in this case linking Gaetz to an underage girl. The attorneys are said to be handling several cases. Among them was a civil suit filed by a friend of Gaetz's, Christopher Dorworth, a Florida businessman.
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Dorworth filed the suit against the woman who claims to have had sex with Gaetz when she was a minor and against Joel Greenberg, a former Gaetz ally who is serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal sex trafficking charges related to the woman. Throughout this case, Dorworth claims to be the victim of defamation, as both Greenberg and the woman claim he was the host of parties at which Gaetz had sex with the then-underage girl.
The files were downloaded this Monday by an unknown user. According to the New York Times, it is not an account belonging to the lawyers involved in this case. The files contain information available to the DOJ and the House Ethics Committee which have not been made public.
According to the report, the leaked information also includes the sworn testimony of Dorworth and his wife, as well as the testimony of Michael Fischer, former Gaetz campaign treasurer, who also reportedly attended the alleged drug parties.
The hacker still has not made any of the information obtained public.
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