Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz fought against an anti-revenge porn bill in the Florida state Legislature because he thought sexual pictures of lovers were ‘his to use as he wanted’, according to a former state representative.
Tom Goodson, who served as a Republican representative of the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018, told the Orlando Sentinel that Gaetz was the main opponent to legislation banning people from sharing sexually explicit photos of their ex-partners with others without the individual’s consent.
‘Matt was absolutely against it. He thought the picture was his to do with what he wanted,’ Goodson told the outlet.
‘He thought that any picture was his to use as he wanted to, as an expression of his rights.’
The claims come after Gaetz was accused of showing off nude photos of women he said he had slept with to other lawmakers – including while he was on the House floor in Washington.
The congressman’s past behaviors and endeavors have increasingly come under the spotlight over the last week, after it emerged he is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines.
Gaetz, 38, is expected to be indicted in a federal court over the next few weeks in connection to sexual activity with at least one minor, who testified before a Florida grand jury that she had sex with him before she turned 18, DailyMail.com has learned.
Investigators have also reportedly been looking into allegations he paid women via Apple Pay for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg, who has been charged with sex trafficking a minor.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran.
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz fought against an anti-revenge porn bill in the Florida state legislature because he thought sexual pictures of lovers were ‘his to use as he wanted’, according to a former state representative
Goodson, who spent three years sponsoring the legislation, said Gaetz repeatedly pushed back on passing the bill to ban ‘nonconsensual pornography’ during his time in Tallahassee.
Gaetz, a staunch Donald Trump ally and the only member of Congress to vote against a human trafficking bill in 2017, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016.
Prior to this, he represented Florida’s 4th House district in the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee from 2010 to 2016.
Goodson said Gaetz opposed the bill because he believed intimate photos became the property of the recipient of them and so they had a right to share them with other people if they wished.
The bill was first put on the table in the Florida Legislature in 2013 and the next year sailed through two Senate committees and the full Senate by unanimous votes.
This made it a second-degree misdemeanor to post sexually explicit photos of someone online without their consent.
But it came grinding to a halt when it reached the House as it was never given a hearing in the first committee it was assigned to, despite having 17 co-sponsors.
Gaetz was chair of that committee.
Goodson told the Sentinel he had the meeting with Gaetz and late state legislator Sandy D’Alemberte where Gaetz said he believed if someone had sent intimate images of themselves to another person, they were now the property of the recipient.
This meant, Goodson said Gaetz believed, that person could do whatever they wanted with them including sharing them with other people or online.
Tom Goodson, who served as a Republican representative of the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018 (pictured in 2015 presenting the bill in Tallahassee), said Gaetz was the main opponent to the legislation
Several other lawmakers and lobbyists working on the revenge porn bill also said privately at the time that Gaetz was the main opponent to passing it, the Sentinel reported.
A watered down version of the bill was finally passed in 2015, making it a first-degree misdemeanor to publish a sexually explicit image of a person without their consent.
Gaetz was one of only two lawmakers to vote against it which passed 114-2 in the House.
The only other opponent was former Republican state Rep. John Tobia, who was Gaetz’s roommate in Tallahassee at the time.
Though the bill passed, it contained a number of loopholes not present in the Senate’s version.
The law said the photo had to include ‘personal identification information’ of the person in the image such as their name or number.
It also only applied to photos being shared online.
This meant sending the photos to others via email or text was still legal – as was posting the image online without any identifying details about the person depicted in it.
Senator David Simmons, a sponsor of the Senate bill, said the watered down version was passed because the Florida House unexpectedly adjourned its session three days early amid a separate fight between the two state chambers over Medicaid coverage.
Gaetz in 2016 when he represented Florida’s 4th House district in the Florida House of Representatives. A watered down version of the bill finally passed the House in 2015 with Gaetz one of only two to oppose it
‘We passed a less-than-adequate version [of the law] as a result of the fact that the House went home,’ he told the Sentinel.
These loopholes were finally closed in 2019. By this time, Gaetz had left Tallahassee for DC.
Neither Gaetz nor his office returned the Sentinel’s requests for comment on Goodson’s claims.
Reports of Gaetz’s staunch opposition to the bill come days after allegations surfaced Thursday claiming he had shown other lawmakers naked photos and videos of women he said he had slept with and boasted about his sexual conquests to his colleagues since moving to DC.
Multiple sources, including two people who said they had been shown the compromising photos first hand, told CNN, the 38-year-old congressman displayed the images of the women on his phone including while he was on the House floor at the US Capitol.
One source described one video showing a naked woman with a hula hoop, as another said ‘it was a point of pride’ for Gaetz to show the images off.
John Tobia was the second to oppose it. Tobia was Gaetz’s roommate in Tallahassee
There is no evidence that the nude photos are in any way connected to the DOJ’s probe into allegations of sex trafficking.
Meanwhile, other claims of sleazy behavior have surfaced in recent days from his time both in the Florida state legislature and in Congress.
A female GOP insider who worked with Gaetz during his time in the Florida House told Business Insider last week that he had played a sleazy sex game that included a Harry Potter challenge where players earned extra points for sleeping with married lawmakers, virgins and in sorority houses.
Gaetz purportedly took part in the competition with other male lawmakers where they would play to win points for their sexual escapades with the ultimate prize going to the person who bedded a woman dubbed ‘the snitch’.
The snitch is a reference to the name of one of the balls in the Harry Potter game of Quidditch.
The ball is described in the book as the ‘most important ball of the lot’ which is ‘very hard to catch’.
The source said around two dozen male lawmakers and a handful of male lobbyists participated in the sleazy game alongside Gaetz.
It was the ‘worst kept secret in Tallahassee’ and the men even boasted about the game to female colleagues, she said.
Gaetz with his fiancée food analyst Ginger Luckey, 26. Claims of Gaetz’s pushback against the revenge porn bill come after a report last week said he had showed nude photos of women he said he had slept with to other lawmakers including while he was on the House floor
The identities of the other people who participated in the game have not been revealed and it is not clear if any others now work in US Congress.
The congressman has also denied any knowledge of the sex game in Florida.
But the source said she heard ‘specific references of Gaetz being involved and scoring points’ during her time working with him.
This isn’t the first time Gaetz’s name has cropped up in relation to the game.
Last year, Florida State Rep. Chris Latvala accused him of designing a ‘game’ where he and other Florida House members scored points for ‘sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators.’
Latvala leveled the accusations against Gaetz amid a Twitter spat in January 2020.
‘And you created a game where members of the FL House got ‘points’ for sleeping with aides, interns, lobbyists, and married legislators. Hope DC is treating you well, Congressman,’ he wrote.
Gaetz denied the allegations.
Rumors of a game with a point system involving ‘young male FL Reps’ first surfaced in a Politico report in 2013 but did not name the alleged culprits.
It emerged last week Gaetz is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines
Investigators have also reportedly been looking into allegations he paid women via Apple Pay for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg. Greenberg, Gaetz and Roger Stone pictured together in 2017
Gaetz’s behavior in the Florida House was so notorious it even earned him the nickname ‘Creepy Gaetz’, sources told ABC last week.
He would often be spotted at the 101 Restaurant allegedly trying to pick up young women at the haunt which was popular with Florida State University students, a source said.
Gaetz’s reputation continued when he entered Capitol Hill with the congressman quickly gaining a reputation for bragging about his sexual exploits to other lawmakers and staff, CNN reported.
It was also said to be common knowledge among Republicans that he was dating a college student, who was over the age of consent, who had come to DC as an intern in 2018.
That same year, when Gaetz was part way through his first term, he was allegedly given a talking to by then-House Speaker Paul Ryan over his behavior in Congress.
A complaint had been raised about Gaetz leering at a young female staffer in the Capitol, a source told the Washington Post.
Gaetz was reportedly questioned about his behavior by Ryan’s office and the issue was dropped.
Gaetz has denied this report, with a spokesperson telling CNN: ‘That did not happen, no meeting with the speaker or his staff.’
Calls have been mounting for Gaetz to resign from his role amid the revelations about the sex trafficking probe and escalating reports about the congressman’s behavior.
Greenberg met the women through ‘sugar daddy’ websites such as SeekingArrangement, investigators believe
It emerged last week that Gaetz was under investigation by the DOJ for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and for violating federal sex trafficking laws by paying for her to travel across state lines with him.
Gaetz denied the allegations and instead claimed he was the victim of an extortion plot involving former Justice Department official David McGee.
He claims McGee was trying to extort him and his family for $25 million using the sex trafficking probe as leverage.
Gaetz said he and his father – former Florida State Senator Don Gaetz – contacted authorities and were working with the FBI on a simultaneous investigation, with Don backing up his son’s claims Wednesday that he wore a wire to try to expose McGee’s apparent plot.
McGee denied he was extorting Gaetz and said he had no involvement in the DOJ sex trafficking probe into Gaetz other than being one of ‘a thousand people who have heard the rumors’ about the congressman’s alleged actions with underage girls.
Gaetz then released bombshell text message screenshots, an email and a printout purporting to show the alleged extortion plot.
The documents, which were shared with the Washington Examiner, claim to show the congressman was being extorted by McGee and former Air Force intelligence officer Bob Kent in a ploy to help rescue American hostage Robert Levinson from Iran.
According to the documents, Gaetz had been seen in compromising photos having sex with underage prostitutes, a grand jury had heard testimony from at least one underage girl who says she was paid to have sex with him and Gaetz was about to be indicted on charges.
The alleged extorters claimed they could stop the probe 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.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by former Justice Department official David McGee (left) seeking to free American hostage Robert Levinson (right) from Iran
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, according to the documents shared by Gaetz.
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.
Kent denied the claims saying he had heard about the DOJ probe into Gaetz and had reached out to Gaetz’s father to help finance the plot to free Levinson but said he was not trying to extort him over it.
McGee also denied any involvement in an extortion plot and Gaetz was trying to detract from the sex trafficking allegations.
New details about the DOJ sex trafficking probe surfaced in a bombshell report by the New York Times Thursday.
The report revealed Gaetz had allegedly paid women via Apple Pay for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg.
Multiple women reportedly told DOJ investigators Gaetz would tell them a time and place to meet and how much he was willing to pay them for sex.
They would then meet in hotels in Florida where the lawmaker and staunch Trump ally would sometimes take ecstasy before they had sex, the women said.
The DOJ investigation is also reportedly looking into whether one of the women involved with Gaetz was 17 at the time and whether he paid her or gave her gifts to have sex with him.
Gaetz was reportedly first introduced to the women through close ally Greenberg, the former tax collector of Seminole County who investigators believe met the women through ‘sugar daddy’ websites.
Greenberg is currently in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges related to a minor aged between 14 and 17 across a six-month period in 2017.
Pictured Trump and Gaetz. Gaetz met his fiancée at Mar-a-Lago early 2020 and he proposed at the club in December
Sources said the minor is the same 17-year-old girl at the center of Gaetz’s sex trafficking probe and the DOJ is investigating whether other men connected to the two men also had sex with the child.
Insiders told the Washington Post Gaetz would often boast about the women he met through Greenberg.
The two men were pictured together on social media with Roger Stone, who was convicted of lying to Congress, in 2017.
A source close to the DOJ probe told DailyMail.com Friday Gaetz is expected to be indicted within the next few weeks as Greenberg is believed to have turned on him.
Gaetz’s arrest is said to be imminent after the alleged victim, who has not been named, testified before a Florida grand jury this week saying she had sex with the conservative Republican before she turned 18, DailyMail.com has learned.
The investigation into Gaetz first spiraled from a probe into Greenberg.
Gaetz denies ever having paid anyone for sex and has insisted he will not resign.
‘First, I have never, ever paid for sex,’ he wrote. ‘And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old.
‘My lifestyle of yesteryear may be different from how I live now, but it was not and is not illegal.’
He added: ‘Washington scandal cycles are predictable, and sex is especially potent in politics.
‘Let me first remind everyone that I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal.’
Gaetz has not been charged with any crime.
He is engaged to food analyst Ginger Luckey, 26. The couple met at Mar-a-Lago early 2020 and he proposed at the club in December.
