Matt Gaetz allegedly paid accused sex trafficker, who sent money to teen on Venmo

The Daily Beast reported Gaetz sent Joel Greenberg $900, and the next day, three young women — one 17 — got $900.

Venmo, a cash transaction and money-sharing application powered by PayPal, is in the news for more than its ease of use. The app is making headlines after being identified in the ongoing sex trafficking investigation into Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. 

The Daily Beast was the first to report that Gaetz sent his friend Joel Greenberg $900 in a late-night transaction in May of 2018, and the next morning, his friend sent three young women varying amounts of money, which totaled up to — that’s right — $900. 

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who’s under investigation for sex trafficking, addresses February’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

One of them was 17 at the time. 

In the memo field of the public transaction, Gaetz wrote “test,” and in the memo field of the second, he wrote, “hit up ___,” which was a nickname for one of the young women. The Daily Beast did not use the name because of privacy laws, as she was underage. 

Greenberg then sent the three women money, which he described in the memo section as for “Tuition,” “School” and “School.” 

The phrases quickly went viral on social media. On Twitter, film producer Franklin Leonard wrote: “It’s gonna bother me forever that we’ll never know why one of them was Tuition and the other two were School.” 

Venmo is a combination of social media and money-sharing sites. Transactions can be viewed publicly, which is the default setting. Privacy must be activated in its security settings. 

Greenberg has been indicted on 33 federal charges and is expected to cut a deal with the government. 

When questioned by reporters outside of a courthouse following a hearing for the case, Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller said, “I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.” 

Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

The Republican congressman is expected to speak today at a summit organized by the same group behind the “Save America” rally on January 6 that ended with the deadly storming of the U.S Capitol. It takes place at Trump National Doral Miami resort.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s “Dear Culture” podcast? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku. Download theGrio.com today!

SHARE THIS ARTICLE