On Thursday, the Office of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) released a statement signed by all of the congressman's female staffers.
The statement read:
Today, the Women of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz’s (FL-01) official office released the following statement in full support of the Congressman:
“After the shocking allegations last week in the press, we, the women of Congressman Matt Gaetz’s office, feel morally obligated to speak out. During Congressman Gaetz’s time in office, we have been behind the scenes every step of the way. We have staffed his meetings. We have planned his events. We have traveled with him. And we have tracked his schedule. Congressman Gaetz has always been a principled and morally grounded leader. At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. No hint of impropriety. No ounce of untruthfulness.
In our office and under Congressman Gaetz’s leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value. Many of us started in entry-level positions and have been promoted to positions of leadership within the office. In our professional ecosystem, women are given every opportunity to advance and utilize our talents to help the country in the best possible way.
On every occasion he has treated each and every one of us with respect. Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false.
Congressman Gaetz will continue to lead by example and stand for the people of America who have been maligned by the liberal elite. And we will stand with him. While we recognize the scrutiny we will face for making this decision, we take comfort in the hope that more Americans and elected officials will stand up and refuse to remain silent.”
-The Women of the Office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz
While media outlets have indeed "scrutin[ized]" the letter for not naming the female staffers, Henry Rodgers of the Daily Caller reported that his outlet "was told the entire office signed the statement, which includes all eight women who work for Gaetz."
The letter comes after the news surfaced late last month that Rep. Gaetz was being investigated by the Department of Justice over a sexual relationship with a 17-year old girl. Late last Thursday night, Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times published a report that "Justice Dept. Inquiry Into Matt Gaetz Said to Be Focused on Cash Paid to Women."
The report acknowledges that Rep. Gaetz has unequivocally denied the allegations, as well as that Rep. Gaetz says he and his father have been the victims of extortion.
Rep. Gaetz has taken to Twitter to maintain that the claims against him are false. His latest tweets and retweets support his claims of such extortion.
ICYMI... Bob Kent admits to sending extortion text to @mattgaetz' family.
— HARLAN Z. HILL ???? (@Harlan) April 6, 2021
Given the chance to explain the text was not an attempt to extort money, Kent is speechless.
Watch until the end. Insane interview. pic.twitter.com/Dy4SRjDatJ
Episode 35: This *WILD* CNN Interview about Matt Gaetz Raises Tons More Questions. https://t.co/5S3Xq3fRTI
— Raheem Kassam (@RaheemKassam) April 6, 2021
Extortion based on lies. https://t.co/9KzdzZC9gg
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) April 7, 2021
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) April 7, 2021
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