作为对Rep调查的一部分。马特·盖兹ABC新闻获悉，众议院道德委员会最近发出传票，要求提供佛罗里达州议员的一位老朋友对几个第三方提起的民事诉讼文件。
传票，这是以前没有报道过的，要求所有与Gaetz有关的文件，是一个去年提起的诉讼消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，盖兹的老朋友，著名的佛罗里达州说客克里斯·多沃斯声称，在对盖兹长达数年的性交易调查中，他被几个第三方诽谤。
诉讼文件，包括证人证词和宣誓书，可以为国会提供关于多年来困扰盖兹的指控的新细节，包括指控他与一名未成年人发生性关系，这名未成年人是由他以前的朋友乔尔·格林伯格介绍给他的，他承认犯有性交易罪，正在服刑11年徒刑.
盖兹一直否认有任何不当行为。去年，经过长达一年的调查，司法部拒绝提起任何指控对议员不利。
上周，盖兹表示，他将不再自愿参与众议院的道德调查，他抨击这是一次“政治报复行动”，并表示，他最近得知委员会已经发出——但尚未送达——传票，要求他作证。
这位佛罗里达州的国会议员也重申了他否认曾与未成年人发生过性关系。“你9月4日的来信询问我是否与任何18岁以下的人有过性行为。这个问题的答案绝对是否定的。你可以在每个论坛上对这个问题的每个版本做出回应，”盖兹在社交媒体上发布的一份委员会声明中说。
众议院道德委员会的成员拒绝对美国广播公司新闻发表评论。Gaetz的代表没有回应置评请求。
当被联系到发表评论时，格林伯格的律师弗里茨·谢勒(Fritz Scheller)告诉美国广播公司新闻，“虽然我不愿意对悬而未决的国会调查发表评论，但乔尔·格林伯格的立场保持不变。他将全力配合国会的所有调查，无论是否通过传票，也无论这种合作是在雨中还是在火车上，是与狐狸还是在箱子里。是的，格林伯格先生将在这里或那里充分合作，他将在任何地方合作。”
根据法庭文件，与民事诉讼相关的文件包括一名女子的证词，该女子据称在盖兹未成年时与其发生过性关系，还有另一名在DOJ调查中作证的女子的证词，以及多沃斯的证词和盖兹前女友的一份宣誓书。作为对相关指控的持续调查的一部分，这些文件可能会移交给国会。
国会正在寻求的文件源于多沃斯去年提起的一项诉讼，他指控这位曾经的未成年人，在诉讼中只被称为“A.B .”，以及包括格林伯格和他的家人在内的其他人，在司法部的调查中试图诋毁他。
盖兹并不是诉讼中的一方，在多沃斯于9月初撤销诉讼之前，他计划作为证人出庭作证。多沃斯在州法院对格林伯格夫妇提起了一项单独的诽谤诉讼。
目前还不清楚是否以及哪些文件已经交给了国会。虽然包括证词和宣誓证词在内的许多诉讼文件仍然密封，但最近的公开法庭文件让人们对国会要求的基础文件中可能包括的所谓细节有了一些了解。
一份文件，即代表格林伯格夫妇的律师提交的律师费动议中的附件23，详细说明了诉讼中发现的一些指控，包括盖兹据称是2017年7月一场派对的嘉宾之一，当时17岁的“A.B .”也参加了派对。文件称，据一名参加派对的女子称，派对上有“酒精、可卡因、摇头丸(也称为莫莉)和大麻”，可以“进入卧室”进行“性活动”，有人看到A.B .一丝不挂地出现在聚会上。
7月，众议院道德委员会发布了一份罕见的声明，更新了对盖兹的调查状态。该委员会表示，它已停止调查某些指控，包括佛罗里达州议员是否滥用州身份记录或接受贿赂或不正当的小费，但其调查发现，其他指控“值得继续审查”。
该委员会表示，它将继续审查盖兹“参与性行为不端和非法药物使用”以及他“试图阻碍政府对其行为的调查”的指控。
在盖兹上周关于委员会调查的声明中，他重申否认有任何不当行为，同时似乎在回答委员会本月早些时候向他提出的一系列问题。
在回答他是否曾经使用过违禁药物时，盖兹说:“我没有使用过违禁药物，在美国管辖范围内没有法律允许使用。我没有使用过“非法”药物，我认为在美国任何地方，这些药物都是非法的医疗或非处方药。”
House Ethics Committee subpoenas documents from lawsuit brought by Gaetz's friend: Sources
As part of its ongoing investigation into Rep.Matt Gaetz, the House Ethics Committee recently issued a subpoena for documents from a civil lawsuit brought by one of the Florida congressman's longtime friends against several third parties, ABC News has learned.
The subpoena, which has not been previously reported, requests all documents related to Gaetz that are part of alawsuit brought last yearby Gaetz's longtime friend, prominent Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth, who alleged he was defamed by several third parties over the course of the yearslong sex trafficking probe into Gaetz, sources told ABC News.
The documents from the lawsuit, which include witness depositions and affidavits, could provide Congress with new details regarding allegations that have dogged Gaetz for years, including the allegation he had sex with a minor who was introduced to him by his onetime friend Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and is serving an11-year prison sentence.
Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing. Last year, following a yearslong investigation, the Justice Departmentdeclined to bring any chargesagainst the congressman.
Last week, Gaetz stated that he would no longer voluntarily participate in the House Ethics probe, which he blasted as a "political payback exercise," and said that he had recently learned that the committee had issued -- but not yet served him -- a subpoena for his testimony.
The Florida congressman also reiterated his denial that he ever had sex with a minor. "Your correspondence of September 4 asks whether I have engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18. The answer to this question is unequivocally NO. You can apply this response to every version of this question, in every forum," Gaetz said in a statement to the committee posted on social media.
Members of the House Ethics Committee declined to comment to ABC News. Representatives for Gaetz did not respond to a request for comment.
When reached for comment, Greenberg's attorney, Fritz Scheller, told ABC News, "While I am reluctant to comment on a pending congressional investigation, Joel Greenberg’s position remains the same. He will fully cooperate with all congressional inquiries, whether by subpoena or not, and regardless of whether the cooperation occurs in the rain or on a train, with a fox or in a box. Yes, Mr. Greenberg will fully cooperate here or there, he will cooperate anywhere."
Among the documents related to the civil lawsuit, according to court filings, is the deposition of the woman who Gaetz allegedly had sex with when she was a minor, as well as testimony from another woman who was a witness in the DOJ investigation, plus Dorworth's deposition and an affidavit from Gaetz's former girlfriend. Those documents could be turned over to Congress as part of its ongoing probe into related allegations.
The documents Congress is seeking stem from a lawsuit brought last year by Dorworth, who alleged that the onetime minor, identified in the lawsuit only as "A.B.," and others, including Greenberg and his family, worked to defame him amid the Justice Department's probe.
Gaetz, who was not a party in the suit, was scheduled to sit for his own deposition as a witness in the lawsuit prior to Dorworth dropping the suit in early September. Dorworth has a separate ongoing defamation lawsuit against the Greenbergs in state court.
It is unclear if and what documents have been handed over to Congress. And while many of the lawsuit's documents, including depositions and sworn statements, remain sealed, recent public court filings shed some light on what alleged details could be included in the underlying documents requested by Congress.
One filing, Exhibit 23 in a motion for attorneys fees filed by attorneys representing the Greenbergs, details some of the allegations made during discovery in the lawsuit, including that Gaetz was allegedly among the guests at a July 2017 party that "A.B.," who was 17 years old at the time, also attended. The filing states that according to a woman who attended the party, there was "alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy also known as molly, and marijuana" present, that there was "access to the bedrooms" for "sexual activities," and that A.B. was seen naked at the gathering.
In July, the House Ethics Committee released a rare statement updating the status of its probe into Gaetz. The committee stated that it had stopped looking into certain claims, including whether the Florida congressman misused state identification records or accepted a bribe or improper gratuity, but that its investigation had found that other allegations "merit continued review."
The committee said that it would continue to review claims that Gaetz "engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use" and that he "sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct."
In Gaetz's statement last week regarding the committee probe, he reiterated his denial of any wrongdoing while seemingly responding to a string of questions the committee issued to him earlier in the month.
In response to whether or not he had ever used illicit drugs, Gaetz stated, "I have not used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States. I have not used 'illicit' drugs, which I consider to be drugs unlawful for medical or over-the-counter use everywhere in the United States."
