Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz says he won’t resign as pressure mounts: report
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law hearing on Online Platforms and Market Power in the Rayburn House office Building, July 29, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
TALLAHASSEE - Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Friday said he will not resign after reports that the FBI has been investigating him since last summer, in part over whether he broke federal sex-trafficking laws, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"Of course not," Mr. Gaetz reportedly said in a text message Friday about whether he would leave office as pressure mounts. The Wall Street Journal reports that his lawyer also said Mr. Gaetz wouldn’t step down.
Gaetz's communications director has left the office of the Florida Republican amid a federal criminal probe into whether the congressman paid women for sex.
Luke Ball, the former spokesman for the congressman, parted ways with Gaetz this week just as more reporting revealed Gaetz's alleged involvement with women who were recruited online for sex.
"The Office of Congressman Matt Gaetz and Luke Ball have agreed that it would be best to part ways," Gaetz's office said in a statement to Fox News. "We thank him for his time in our office, and we wish him the best moving forward."
Ball did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment on whether he resigned out of principle, as was suggested by another news outlet.
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Gaetz, a one-time rising star in the GOP and outspoken ally for former President Donald Trump, has denied the allegations of sexual misconduct and for paying for sex.
The New York Times reported Friday that the investigation into Gaetz is tied to a probe of an indicted Florida politician named Joel Greenberg and focuses on their alleged involvement with multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments.
FOX News contributed to this report.
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