A day after his associate pleaded guilty to six charges in a sex trafficking investigation and signaled that he will cooperate with authorities, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz likened the sexual misconduct allegations against him to legislative earmarks.
Speaking at a GOP event in Cleveland, Ohio, Gaetz said he is “being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors,” NBC News reports.
“Yet, Congress has reinstituted a process that legalizes the corrupt act of exchanging money for favors, through earmarks, and everybody knows that that’s the corruption,” he added, according to the news outlet.
Senate Republicans have kept a symbolic prohibition on earmarks within the conference, the ban isn’t binding. Senate Democrats have also instituted similar limits as their colleagues in the House.
Gaetz’s remarks come after court documents filed on Friday revealed that Joel Greenberg, an associate of the congressman, said he will help investigators as they continue their criminal sex trafficking investigation.
As noted by The New York Times, “the investigation is reportedly looking into whether Gaetz and Greenberg utilized the internet to find women they could pay for sex, and whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a minor who he paid to travel with him.”