Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger became the first congressional Republican to call for Rep. Matt Gaetz’s resignation amid a growing investigation that he had sex with a minor and violated sex trafficking laws.
“Matt Gaetz needs to resign,” Kinzinger tweeted late Thursday, attaching a Daily Beast report that the Florida Republican used Venmo to pay an alleged sex trafficker $900 in 2018. The report adds that the recipient, Joel Greenberg, transferred sums of money totaling $900 to teenaged girls.
Greenberg is reportedly seeking a plea deal with prosecutors, and faces dozens of federal charges. (RELATED: REPORT: Matt Gaetz Showed Other Lawmakers Photos Of Nude Women On House Floor, Talked About Having Sex With Them)
Rep. Matt Gaetz holds up his phone as Donald trump Jr. addresses the crowd in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the State Capitol. (Kyle Heckman/Daily Caller)
Kinzinger’s tweet is not the first time the two House members have clashed. A vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, he launched a PAC seeking to aid likeminded GOP candidates, and called out Gaetz – a high-profile Trump ally – and his inflammatory rhetoric in the process.
“All you have to do is see people like, of course, Marjorie Taylor Greene. You look at people like Matt Gaetz, who know better,” Kinzinger said. “I think neither of them believes the stuff they ascribe to, they just want the fame.”
“Fucking bring it,” Gaetz later responded.
The investigation surrounding Gaetz, 38, was first reported by The New York Times, which said that the Department of Justice was investigating him over allegedly having a sexual relationship with a minor and paying for her travel.
Gaetz has flatly rejected the allegations against him, and has said that he has no plans to resign.
Two Gaetz staffers have resigned since news of the investigation broke, including Luke Ball, his communications director.
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