Rep. Matt Gaetz's father made millions by selling his hospice company in 2004 and used the money to launch his own political career, years before they were 'extorted' over allegations the younger Gaetz slept with an underage girl.
The bizarre and complex chain of events was set off on Tuesday when The New York Times reported that Gaetz, 38, was under investigation for allegedly sleeping with a 17-year-old girl two years ago and trafficking her across state lines.
He hit back angrily saying it was not true and that his family was being extorted for $25million. His father Don, a former Florida Senator from 2006 until 2016, is backing him up and says he even wore a wire to a meeting with one of the extortionists to try to help expose the plot.
On Thursday, Gaetz claimed in documents he handed to The Washington Examiner that the plot had another element - the people involved were claiming to extort him to free American hostage Robert Levinson, who was captured in Iran in 2002 while working for the CIA.
He said the extortionists told his family they needed $25milliont to free Levinson - whose family say is dead - and that in exchange, the team that rescued Levinson would ask President Joe Biden to pardon Gaetz from any sex trafficking charges.
The amount the extortionists apparently asked for is the same amount that Don Gaetz's net worth was reported as when he launched his first Senatorial campaign in 2006.
He and his partners had sold Vitas, a hospice company, two years earlier for $406million. It's unclear how many partners there were, but when Don was campaigning, his net worth was well reported.
The family comes from Niceville, Florida, a conservative, Christian town on the panhandle.
Rep Matt Gaetz and his father Don Gaetz. Don served as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016 but two years earlier, he made at least $25million through the sale of a hospice care company that he founded in the 1970s and sold with his partners for $406million
Don Gaetz is shown, left, on the Florida Senate floor. He is shown right, with his wife Vicki, who became partially paralyzed during her pregnancy with her daughter. Her decision to go through with the pregnancy despite the complications is one of the reasons Matt Gaetz is so opposed to abortion
Don's own father, Jerry, was the mayor of a small town in North Dakota. Don was referred to as 'baby Gaetz' early on in his career.
He and his partners founded Vitas in the 1970s and turned it into the largest hospice care provider in the country, after lobbying Congress to have their care paid for under Medicaid and Medicare.
They sold the company in 2004 but were later sued for Medicaid fraud. The lawsuit did not name Don specifically, and he denied wrongdoing.
Don was well-liked in the Senate because he was considered 'old fashioned' and 'decent'. His views, while Republican, are less extreme than his son's.
'Don Gaetz was very much more of an old-school Republican. He would tell you that Matt is much more tea party Republican than he is,' Ben Wilcox told Mother Jones for a profile on the pair in 2019.
Matt launched his political career in Florida in 2010.
He has since made a name for himself supporting Trump, at times mimicking his combustive and combative style.
He is engaged to Ginger Luckey, who he met at a Trump fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in March 2020 and proposed to her there in December.
She has not commented on the current controversy.
He has spoken in the past about how his mother became partially paralyzed due to complications she suffered while pregnant with his sister, and how her devotion to the pregnancy and baby has enforced his anti-abortion views.
Rep. Matt Gaetz with Donald and Melania Trump. He styled much of his political career on Trump, taking a similarly combative tone in interviews and on Twitter
On Wednesday, Gaetz produced text message screenshots and emails to The Washington Examiner to support his case.
They shed more light on the allegations. According to the documents, Gaetz had been seen in compromising photos having sex with underage prostitutes.
McGee and another man, Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent, claimed in the messages to have knowledge of the investigation.
Gaetz proposed to Ginger Hickey in December last year eight months after meeting her
They said that he was about to be indicted but that they could stop it if the Gaetz family put up $25million which would help secure Levinson's release.
Levinson worked for the FBI for 22 years then vanished in 2007 while in Iran. Nothing was known as to whether he was alive or dead until 2011 when Levinson's family shared images and a video of him being held captive and pleading for help.
Levinson's family said in March 2020 that they had been informed by US officials that he had died in Iranian custody, while being held in Iran as the longest-held hostage in American history.
But Kent claimed he was very much alive and that if Gaetz provided the money to release him, he would be given public credit for the operation and the 'team' would tell President Biden to give him a pardon in the sex trafficking case.
McGee used to work for the Department of Justice but now works in private practice and is the Levinson family's lawyer.
Kent has claimed in the past that he has worked on plans to secure Levinson's release.
The texts are purportedly from him to Gaetz's father, former Senator Don Gaetz. They were sent on March 16 and 17.
'Mr Gaetz, I would like to talk with you immediately about the current federal investigation and the indictment that is about to be filed against your son. I have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away,' the first text, sent on March 16 purportedly from Kent, says.
Kent goes on: 'Last summer, we located Robert Levinson in Iran and took two proof of life videos but the US government foiled our rescue attempt. We have one more opportunity to rescue Levinson. If you and Matt are willing to help us privately and clandestinely obtain the release of Robert Levinson, I will ensure...'
There is no screenshot of the next part of the text.
On March 17, Gaetz's father met with Kent and Kent gave him a document titled 'Project Homecoming', he says.
It detailed plans for the Gaetz family to give them $25million.
They said they would use the money to free Levinson and that in exchange, 'the team that delivers Mr. Levinson to the President shall strongly advocate that President Biden issue a Presidential Pardon, or instruct the Department of Justice to terminate any and all investigations involving Congressman Gaetz.
On March 17, the day after the text was sent purportedly by Kent to Gaetz's father, Don claims he met with Kent and Stephen M. Alford, a man convicted of fraud who McGee has represented in the past, and was given the three-page 'Project Homecoming' document.
The document begins with details of the alleged probe into Rep. Gaetz over 'various public corruption and public integrity issues.'
It outlines some of the most damning allegations to surface against Gaetz to date, claiming the FBI has 'compromising pictures' depicting Gaetz and an unidentified election official in a 'sexual orgy with underage prostitutes' in Maitland, Florida.
The photos came to light during an unrelated probe into political corruption and public integrity in another criminal case, it reads.
This document was given to Gaetz's father Don on March 17, allegedly by Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent. The plan involved the Gaetz family putting up $25million to secure Levinson's release but it doesn't say how the money would secure that
Another document that Gaetz has produced is an email from the Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Florida which confirms that the family was working with the FBI
Rep. Matt Gaetz (pictured) was allegedly being extorted over the investigation into 'compromising pictures' showing him in a sex orgy with underage prostitutes to help rescue American hostage Robert Levinson from Iran, according to newly-obtained documents
Bombshell texts, an email and a printout with the heading 'Project Homecoming' detail the alleged scheme involving former DOJ official David McGee (left) and former Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent to free US hostage Robert Levinson (right)
Sources previously told the New York Times the probe was part of a wider investigation into Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, who was charged with sex trafficking a minor between the age of 14 and 17 last year.
The document says the discovery of the photos and 'subsequent information' has led to Gaetz being the 'target' of a 'widening investigation into serious underage sex trafficking, political corruption, public integrity, and other criminal allegations.'
On Tuesday, Gaetz insisted he had been told he was the 'subject' and not the 'target' of a probe.
The document claims that a Grand Jury has been impaneled to determine is charges should be brought against Gaetz and others.
It says that a number of people have testified to the Grand Jury about Gaetz including one underage girl who claims she was paid by Gaetz for sex and 'other individuals, whom are facing serious criminal allegations themselves'.
'At least one underage female has testified to the Grand Jury that Congressman Gaetz has paid her to engage in sexual activities,' it reads.
The probe is being handled by the Public Integrity Division of the DOJ and is being managed out of the DC field office, with the US Attorney from the Middle District of Florida overseeing the case.
The document goes on to describe a 'strategy' to 'mitigate Gaetz's 'legal and political troubles' by arranging for $25 million in funds needed to apparently release Levinson from Iranian captivity.
The money would be deposited into the trust account of Beggs & Land law firm, where McGee works, no later than March 19, the Examiner reported.
It describes a setup wherein Gaetz could take the credit for Levinson's release and present the captive's return to the US, and would be put forward for a presidential pardon and for all investigations to be dropped.
'In exchange for funds being arranged, and upon the release of Robert Levinson, Congressman Gaetz shall be given credit for facilitating the release of Mr. Levinson. Congressman Gaetz shall also be on the plane that returns Mr. Levinson to freedom, and shall be the person to 'reunited' Mr. Levinson with his family and bring Mr. Levinson back to the United States,' the document reads.
'The team that delivers Mr. Levinson to the President of The United States shall strongly advocate that President Biden issue a Presidential Pardon, or instruct the Department of Justice to terminate any and all investigations involving Congressman Gaetz.'
The three-page document also suggested at least some White House knowledge of the plan claiming: 'The team has been assured by the President that he will strongly consider such matters because he considers the release of Robert Levinson a matter of National Urgency.'
The Examiner also obtained an email chain allegedly between Don's attorney Jeffrey Neiman and federal prosecutors that appears to confirm the FBI is looking into an alleged extortion.
Assistant US Attorney David Goldberg wrote to Neiman that he could 'confirm that your client is working with my office as well as the FBI at the government's request in order to determine if a federal crime has been committed'.
The FBI declined to comment and directed to DailyMail.com to the DOJ. The DOJ did not return a request for comment.
The release of the documents came after Gaetz's father backed up his extortion claims and said he wore a wire to try help his son expose it.
'The FBI asked me to try and get that information for Matt and an indication we would transfer money to Mr. David McGee,' he told Politico Wednesday.
DailyMail.com has reached out to McGee following the latest claims about the alleged extortion plot.
The attorney denied any involvement Tuesday telling The Washington Post Tuesday he was not part of a plan to extort Gaetz nor was he connected to the DOJ's sex trafficking probe.
But McGee, an attorney at Beggs & Lane law firm and the former lead attorney for the DOJ's Organized Crime Task Force, said: 'It is completely false. It's a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that he's under investigation for sex trafficking of minors.
'I have no connection with that case at all, other than, one of a thousand people who have heard the rumors.'
The attorney said Gaetz's father had 'called me and asked to talk to me' and said he would welcome a tape of their conversation being made public. He did not detail what the conversation was about but insisted it was nothing 'untoward' but simply 'a pleasant conversation of a dad concerned about his son and the trouble his son was in'.
He added: 'If there is a tape, play the tape. There is nothing on that tape that is untoward.'
Gaetz had on Tuesday claimed he is the victim of a $25 million extortion plot after it was revealed he is under investigation for sex trafficking over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, 17, and paid to have her travel with him.
The Republican congressman and close ally of Donald Trump accused McGee live on Tucker Carlson of trying to extort millions of dollars out of him and his family in exchange for 'making horrible sex trafficking allegations against me go away.'
Gaetz claimed he had been working with the FBI and his father Don Gaetz had been wearing a wire to expose the alleged scheme after learning of it earlier this month.
Florida lawmaker Gaetz made the bombshell allegation hours after the New York Times revealed the DOJ had launched a probe to investigate whether Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Three sources told the Times an investigation was launched into his alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl during Trump's final months in office under then-Attorney General Bill Barr.
The inquiry is said to be part of a wider probe into Florida official Joel Greenberg, who was slapped with a string of charges last year including sex trafficking a minor between the age of 14 and 17. No charges have been filed against Gaetz.
On Wednesday, Politico reported that not only was the sex trafficking investigation underway, but that Bill Barr, the AG at the time, knew about it and had no objection to it.
Gaetz claimed Tuesday night the sex trafficking allegations against him were 'verifiably false' but said he and his family were victims of an extortion effort by McGee to make the allegations and the DOJ investigation 'go away.'
A separate probe was launched by the FBI into the extortion plot, he said. Gaetz claimed the Times report had then foiled a plan to transfer a bribe of $4.5 million to McGee Wednesday which would have then exposed the alleged plot.
However Times' reporter Katie Benner told MSNBC it is the congressman who has in fact 'blown up' the alleged extortion investigation in an effort to divert attention away from the fact the sex trafficking concerns were serious enough for the Trump administration to launch an investigation - even though Gaetz is a close ally of the president. Gaetz, 38, is close to Trump and got engaged to food analyst Ginger Luckey, 26, at his Mar-a-Lago club in late December.
Gaetz accused David McGee, an attorney at Beggs & Lane law firm and the former lead attorney for the DOJ's Organized Crime Task Force, of trying to extort millions from him and his family in exchange for making sex trafficking allegations 'go away' on Fox News Tuesday
The FBI declined to comment Tuesday night while the DOJ did not return DailyMail.com's request for comment.
Reports of the two investigations came just hours after it was revealed Gaetz is considering retiring from Congress and taking a job at right-wing news outlet Newsmax.
Gaetz's alleged encounters with the 17-year-old girl took place around two years ago with the DOJ investigation focusing on whether the lawmaker paid for her to cross state lines, the Times reported.
Under federal law, it is a crime to transport someone under the age of 18 across state lines, or coerce them to travel across state lines, to engage in sex in exchange for money.
It is not clear when or how Gaetz allegedly met the teenager.
Gaetz, who was the only member of Congress to vote against a largely bipartisan human trafficking bill back in 2017, insisted the allegations are false.
'It is a horrible allegation and it is a lie,' he told Carlson.
'The New York Times is running a story that I have traveled with a 17-year-old woman and that is verifiably false. People can look at my travel records and see that that is not the case.'
When asked about his alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, Gaetz said such a person 'doesn't exist'.
'The person doesn't exist. I have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old. That is totally false,' he said.
However, Gaetz recalled a dinner with Carlson, his wife and 'a friend of mine' who he said has since been 'threatened' by authorities to 'cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay for play scheme.'
'I can say that actually you and I went to dinner about two years ago, your wife was there and I brought a friend of mine, you will remember her,' he said.
'And she was actually threatened by the FBI, told that if she wouldn't cop to the fact that somehow I was involved in some pay for play scheme that she could face trouble and so I do believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to smear me.'
Instead, Gaetz claimed he and his family have fallen foul to a plot to extort money.
The congressman told Carlson the alleged scheme came to light on March 16 when he claims his father got a text message 'demanding a meeting wherein a person demanded $25 million in exchange for making horrible sex trafficking allegations against me go away'.
Gaetz's father is Don Gaetz, former member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016 and Senate President from 2012 to 2014. Don has not publicly commented on the apparent extortion plot.
Gaetz claimed his family were told about 'pictures of me with child prostitutes' which he insisted are 'obviously false'.
Gaetz named McGee on air on the Fox News show, accusing the lawyer of being behind the extortion plot.
'His name is David Mcgee. He was a top official in the leadership in the northern district of Florida as a prosecutor,' he said. 'He currently works at the Beggs & Lane law firm.'
He claimed: 'There was a demand for money in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away along with his co-conspirators.'
Gaetz said he contacted the FBI and the DOJ and has been working with them to expose the plot.
'Our family was so troubled by that, we went to the local FBI and the FBI and the Department of Justice were so concerned about this attempted extortion of a member of Congress that they asked my dad to wear a wire, which he did with the former department of justice official,' he claimed.
Gaetz claimed that, prior to the Times' report of the sex trafficking inquiry, his family and federal authorities had made a plan to send $4.5 million as a down payment to McGee.
He claimed this plan 'would have shown even more evidence of David McGee's work in this extortion scheme' but that it was 'foiled' by the Times' report.
'What was supposed to happen was the transfer of this money that would have implicated the former colleague of these current DOJ officials.
'But that's obviously not going to happen tomorrow because the New York Times story was leaked in order to quell that investigative effort,' he claimed.
Gaetz called on the FBI to release the tapes of his family's alleged encounters with the extorter in order to prove his 'innocence.'
'If the FBI and department of justice will release the tapes that they are in possession of, the American people will see what is really going on,' he said.
New York Times' Justice Department Reporter Katie Benner hit back at Gaetz's claims telling MSNBC that McGee is not involved in the DOJ's sex trafficking probe as he works in private practice.
'No that person is not involved in the investigations. That person is currently in private practice and does not work at the Justice Department,' she said.
Benner questioned Gaetz's motive for speaking out about the alleged extortion plot in a move that she said has 'destroyed and blown up' the FBI investigation into it.
Gaetz was first to publicly expose the FBI probe into the alleged extortion plot, with no mention made in the Times' initial report.
The Republican congressman and close ally of Donald Trump fired out a series of tweets Tuesday claiming a former Justice Department employee had been trying to extort $25 million from him and his family while 'threatening to smear my name'
Benner said she believes Gaetz was speaking out to deflect from the fact that the sex trafficking probe was 'serious enough' to be launched by Trump's DOJ.
'Keep in mind this is an investigation that if you look at the timeline was very serious and was taken seriously by Trump administration officials in the Justice Department,' she said.
'I think that one of the reasons why he has talked publicly about this extortion plot, one of the reasons why he has publicly said that the FBI has asked his own father to wear a wire is in order to try to get people to not pay attention to the fact that it was in fact the Trump admin that felt it was worthy to investigation him.'
She hit back at his claim that the Times' report had 'foiled' the FBI plot.
'In publicly talking about the extortion plot that he has described and publicly saying that his father wore a wire he has basically destroyed and blown up an FBI investigation which is in itself something you would think would be against his own interests,' she said.
'You would think he wold be wanting to work with the FBI and would think he would be wanting to keep this quiet... in doing this and basically blowing up an FBI investigation into people trying to extort his family he has both complicated that investigation and also cast aspersions on something that was serious enough that Attorney General Bill Barr proved it.'
Gaetz went on the defense as soon as the Times story broke Tuesday evening, going on a tweet storm describing the alleged extortion plot and slamming the allegations as 'lies'.
'Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name,' he tweeted.
The congressman said he and his family had been working with the FBI on the plot to extort money from his family.
'We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter and my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI's direction to catch these criminals.
'The planted leak to the FBI tonight was intended to thwart that investigation. No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation.'
Gaetz denied the accusations against him after the New York Times revealed Tuesday that the DOJ had launched a probe to investigate whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws. Pictured Trump and Gaetz
Gaetz called on the Justice Department to release tapes he said shows the alleged scheme by an ex-DOJ employee.
'I demand the DOJ immediately release the tapes, made at their direction, which implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations,' he tweeted.
Gaetz went into damage control mode after news of the inquiry surfaced.
He told the Times his attorneys had been told by the DOJ that he was the subject and not the target of the probe.
The inquiry is said to be part of a wider probe into Florida official Joel Greenberg (pictured) who was slapped with a string of charges last year including sex trafficking of a minor between the age of 14 and 17
'I only know that it has to do with women,' he said. 'I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.'
The congressman confirmed the DOJ probe in an interview with Axios and doubled down that the allegations are 'false' and 'unclear' as he blamed the apparent extortion plot.
'The allegations of sexual misconduct against me are false,' he said. 'They are rooted in an extortion effort against my family for $25 million… in exchange for making this case go away.'
Axios reported that it had seen screenshots of text messages, emails and documents from Gaetz purporting to show the alleged scheme.
'I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know when I was a single guy,' he said.
The 38-year-old said while he often 'provided for' women he was dating when he was single, such as paying for flights and hotel rooms, he was 'absolutely' confident none of the women were underage.
'I have definitely, in my single days, provided for women I've dated. You know, I've paid for flights, for hotel rooms. I've been, you know, generous as a partner,' he said.
'I think someone is trying to make that look criminal when it is not.'
Sources told the Times that senior Justice Department officials, including some Trump appointees, were aware of the investigation due to its nature and the congressman's profile.
Gaetz shared this image on Facebook in July 2017 of himself with Greenberg and Roger Stone
They said it is part of a larger probe into Greenberg, a former tax collector of Seminole County, Orlando, accused of paying for sex with an underage girl and illegally using Florida's DMV database to look up information on her and other women with whom he was engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships with.
Greenberg was indicted last summer on 14 felony charges including child sex trafficking, fraud, identity theft and stalking a former political rival.
The sex trafficking charge involves alleged encounters with a girl aged between 14 and 17 across a six-month period in 2017.
He was also accused of violating the Driver's Privacy Protection Act by using his access as an elected official to illegally look up information about the minor in The Florida Driver and Vehicle Information Database (DAVID).
He reportedly looked up the girl's photo, driver identification number, in addition to other information.
Prosecutors say he also used the database to look up other people, with whom he was embroiled in 'sugar daddy relationships' with.
Greenberg had first been indicted by a federal grand jury in June on charges that he stalked political opponent Brian Beute in the Republican primary for the Tax Collector's race and for identity theft.
Greenberg resigned the following day and the additional charges were added in August.
Gaetz is a frequent guest at Mar-a-Lago and even proposed to his now-fiancée Luckey there in December. Pictured the couple when they got engaged
He was arrested earlier this month for violating the terms of his bond after he allegedly traveled to Jupiter and was involved in some type of police incident there.
The extent of Gaetz's relationship with Greenberg is unclear but the ex-tax collector shared a photo on Twitter of the two men together at the White House in 2019.
The year before, Gaetz backed Greenberg's successful bid for local office.
And back in July 2017, Gaetz shared a photo on his Facebook of himself with Greenberg and Roger Stone - Trump's aide who was convicted of lying to Congress before being pardoned by the former president.
News of the sex-trafficking inquiry came the same day reports surfaced that Gaetz is mulling quitting politics altogether for a career as a media personality.
Gaetz has told friends he is considering not seeking re-election in 2022 and may even leave Congress before the end of his term for a job at conservative outlet Newsmax, according to Axios.
The congressman lost much of his personal power in DC when Trump, a close ally, lost the White House and Republicans failed to take back control of the House of Representatives.
Newsmax, meanwhile, has become a favored outlet for conservatives after Trump started criticizing Fox News, leaving an opening for it and competitor One American News.
Gaetz is already a frequent guest on the network, which recently hired former White House staffer Andrew Guiliani, the son of Rudy Giuliani, and former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller.
He has previously called for harsher criminal penalties for child sex offenders, with a 2014 Facebook post pushing for minimum 50-year mandatory minimum sentences for violent predators
Gaetz is a staunch Trump ally and defended the former president during both impeachment trials.
He also pushed the false claims that the MAGA mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 in a riot that left five dead were from Antifa. Investigations have proven they were not.
Gaetz also made a name for himself when he became the only House lawmaker to vote against a bill to provide greater funds to fight human trafficking.
The legislation - the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act - gave the federal government more money to tackle human trafficking.
It was backed by both Republicans and Democrats and sailed through the House and Senate.
'Unless there is an overwhelming, compelling reason that our existing agencies in the federal government can't handle that problem, I vote no because voters in Northwest Florida did not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government,' he said at the time.
He also hit headlines for wearing a gas mask on the House floor during the COVID pandemic and criticizing Democrats for banning guns in Congress.
He has previously called for harsher criminal penalties for child sex offenders, with a 2014 Facebook post pushing for minimum 50-year mandatory minimum sentences for violent predators.
Outside of DC, Gaetz is a frequent guest at Mar-a-Lago and even proposed to his now-fiancée Luckey there in December.
The couple met at an event at the club sometime earlier in 2020.
Luckey works for a company called Apeel, that says it 'works with nature to reduce food waste and create abundance for all.'
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