(Associated Press) Rep. Matt Gaetz is retaining two prominent New York attorneys as he faces a Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls.
Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner will lead the Florida Republican’s legal team, a Gaetz spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
“Matt has always been a fighter. A fighter for his constituents, a fighter for the country, and a fighter for the Constitution. He’s going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him,” the statement said, adding that the lawyers “will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods.”
Mukasey confirmed to the Associated Press that he was involved in representing Gaetz but declined to comment further.
Gaetz has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing.
He has said he plans to keep his seat.
But a potentially ominous sign occurred in a Florida court on Thursday when federal prosecutors revealed that a Gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg, is working toward a plea deal.
Prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they could not discuss details publicly.
The Daily Beast reported Thursday that Venmo payment transactions between the two preceded payments to the allegedly underage teens they were involved with.
“I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for Greenberg, said after a hearing on Thursday during which the potential plea deal was discussed.
Mukasey is a former federal prosecutor in New York and is the son of Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge who served as attorney general in President George W. Bush’s administration.
He has connections to people close to President Donald Trump — he previously worked at Rudy Giuliani’s law firm — and represented Edward Gallagher, a Navy SEAL whose war crimes case caught Trump’s attention.
Gallagher was acquitted in 2019 of killing a wounded war prisoner in Iraq.
He also represented the CEO of a social media company during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Kirshner represented former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned his position after being accused of physically assaulting women.
No charges were filed against Schneiderman after an investigation by a special prosecutor.
Kirshner’s law firm has represented several lawyers accused of criminal wrongdoing.
Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.
