联邦检察官周四表示，众议员乔尔·格林伯格马特·盖兹目前正面临性交易指控的格林伯格正考虑接受认罪协议，格林伯格的律师暗示，这可能涉及格林伯格配合联邦政府对涉及盖兹的指控的调查。
据消息人士称，格林伯格去年因涉嫌在2017年贩运一名少女进行性交易而被起诉，司法部也在试图确定盖兹是否与这名17岁的少女发生了性关系。格林伯格对指控不认罪。
周四在奥兰多联邦法庭举行的听证会以一项协议结束，该协议规定，如果到5月15日没有达成认罪协议，格林伯格的审判将推迟到7月。审判原定于6月1日开始。
听证会结束后，格林伯格的律师弗里茨·谢勒告诉记者，“我肯定马特·盖兹今天感觉不太舒服。”
盖兹，谁有否认有任何不当行为，没有立即回复美国广播公司新闻的置评请求。
针对盖兹的联邦调查专门调查他和他家乡佛罗里达州的一名同事是否提供了现金或其他有价值的东西消息人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，对于那些在网上联系后与之发生性关系的女性。
盖兹的国会办公室周四发表了一份由“美国国会议员马特·盖兹办公室的女性”撰写的声明，为国会议员的指控辩护。
“在我们的办公室里，在国会议员盖兹的领导下，妇女不仅受到尊重，而且一次又一次地被鼓励成长，取得更多成就，并最终知道我们的价值，”声明说，声明的作者没有单独指出。“在任何时候，我们中的任何一个人都没有经历过或目睹过最大限度的专业精神和尊重。...因此，我们一致否认这些指控是虚假的。”
Associate of Matt Gaetz could cooperate with probe as part of plea deal, say prosecutors
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Joel Greenberg, an associate of Rep.Matt Gaetzwho is currently facing sex trafficking charges, is considering taking a plea deal -- which Greenberg's attorney hinted could involve Greenberg cooperating with the federal government's investigation into allegations involving Gaetz.
Greenberg was indicted last year for allegedly trafficking a teenage girl for sex in 2017, and the Justice Department is also trying to determine whether Gaetz had sex with the 17-year-old, according to sources. Greenberg pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Thursday's hearing, in a federal Orlando courtroom, ended with an agreement that if there is not a plea agreement in place by May 15, Greenberg's trial will be moved to July. The trial was originally scheduled to start on June 1.
Following the hearing, Greenberg's attorney, Fritz Scheller, told reporters, "I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today."
Gaetz, who hasdenied any wrongdoing, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
The federal investigation targeting Gaetz is specifically looking into whether he and an associate in his home state of Florida providedcash or other things of valueto women they had sex with after connecting online, sources have told ABC News.
Gaetz's congressional office on Thursday released a statement attributed to "The Women of the Office of U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz" that defended the congressman against the allegations.
"In our office and under Congressman Gaetz’s leadership, women are not only respected, but have been encouraged time and time again to grow, achieve more, and ultimately, know our value," said the statement, whose authors were not individually identified. "At no time has any one of us experienced or witnessed anything less than the utmost professionalism and respect. ... Thus, we uniformly reject these allegations as false."
