The case in opposition to Greenberg — who had beforehand pleaded not responsible to fees together with intercourse trafficking of a minor, stalking, wire fraud and id theft — led federal investigators to launch a probe into attainable intercourse trafficking by Gaetz, a number of shops have reported.

The sign of a forthcoming plea deal got here throughout a standing convention in Greenberg’s case in Orlando. The protection lawyer and the prosecutors didn’t say if Greenberg was anticipated to cooperate within the Gaetz probe, in line with NBC.

“I am positive Matt Gaetz just isn’t feeling very snug as we speak,” Greenberg’s legal professional Fritz Scheller advised reporters Thursday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for Gaetz didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for touch upon Scheller’s remarks.

The New York Instances first reported final month that the Division of Justice is investigating whether or not Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old woman and paid for her travels with him.

NBC reported Wednesday that investigators are taking a look at whether or not ladies have been paid to journey to the Bahamas with Gaetz for intercourse, and whether or not Gaetz and Greenberg used the web to search for ladies they might pay for intercourse.

Gaetz has strongly denied the “horrible” allegations within the Instances, and declared in an op-ed Monday that he’s “completely not resigning” from Congress.

Gaetz has additionally asserted that he’s the sufferer of a multimillion-dollar extortion scheme involving a former DOJ official. Legislation enforcement sources advised NBC that there’s a separate probe underway concerning these extortion claims.

A spokesperson for Gaetz advised CBS Information on Wednesday evening that the congressman “has by no means paid for intercourse, nor has he had intercourse with an underage woman. What started with blaring headlines about ‘intercourse trafficking’ has now changed into a normal fishing train about holidays and consensual relationships with adults.”

On Thursday afternoon, Gaetz shared an announcement from his workplace, which defends the embattled Republican as “a principled and morally grounded chief” and vows to “stand with him.”

That assertion is attributed to “the ladies of Congressman Matt Gaetz’s workplace,” and it doesn’t title any particular members of his employees.

In the meantime, Gaetz’s former advisor Nathan Nelson stated Monday that he had been approached by FBI brokers and questioned in regards to the GOP lawmaker’s alleged involvement in unlawful actions.

Nelson advised reporters he by no means noticed any such unlawful conduct and that his departure from Gaetz’s workplace final fall was not associated to the DOJ probe, which reportedly started within the last months of former President Donald Trump’s time period.