The former Florida tax official whose criminal case led to a sex trafficking investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz is expected to plead guilty, court filings show.Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller was clearly insinuating that Gaetz was involved by innuendo to help his client.Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector, had pleaded not guilty to several charges, including stalking, wire fraud and sex trafficking of a minor. But it was revealed in court last month that he had been in talks with prosecutors to plead guilty.
At the time, Greenberg attorney Fritz Scheller told reporters, "I'm sure Matt Gaetz isn't feeling very comfortable today," clarifying later that when he said Gaetz, R-Fla., "was worried, let me tell you what I'm basing that on."
"You've seen the number of stories out there, and the emphasis is on their relationship. Isn't it obvious to assume that he would be concerned?" Scheller said...
The plea change indicates that Greenberg has agreed to cooperate with the government. It's uncertain what that means for the investigation of Gaetz...
Federal investigators are looking into whether Gaetz and Greenberg used the internet to search for women they could pay for sex. They are also investigating whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a minor and paid for her to travel with him, The New York Times reported, as well as whether he paid women to travel to the Bahamas for sex, according to a law enforcement official and another person familiar with the matter.
Gaetz, who hasn't been charged with any crime, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
See The Guardian (May 15, 2021): Matt Gaetz scandal deepens as associate admits paying 17-year-old for sex:
Citing an anonymous source, the New York Times reported that Greenberg has told investigators Gaetz had sex with the girl and knew she was being paid. Gaetz denies all accusations and has said he will not resign from Congress...Harlan Hill, a spokesman for Gaetz, said: “The first indictment of Joel Greenberg alleges that he falsely accused another man of sex with a minor for his own gain. That man was apparently innocent. So is Congressman Gaetz.”
See United States v. Greenberg - CASE NO: 6:20-cr-97-Orl-31LRH (08-20-2020):
Last, the Superseding Indictment alleges that Mr. Greenberg used the Internet to "cause a Facebook account to be set up that claimed to belong to a 'very concerned teacher' at the school located in the Middle District of Florida where the school employee worked." (Id. ¶ 4). Mr. Greenberg "caused postings to be made using that account that alleged that the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a student," however, Mr. Greenberg knew that the allegations were false. (Id.)...For the reasons set forth below, I will recommend that the amended motion for a bill of particulars be denied...
Superseding Indictment identifies the alleged victim as "a political opponent who worked at a school located in the Middle District of Florida." (Doc. 28, at 1 ¶ 1). Contrary to Mr. Greenberg's assertions, this narrowly defined characterization of the alleged victim does not equate to "thousands of school employees" - but rather narrows down the universe of potential victims to the person who is both a school employee within the Middle District of Florida and a political opponent of Mr. Greenberg, who at the time held the elected position of Seminole County Tax Collector. The Superseding Indictment further narrows the description of the alleged victim to the person who Mr. Greenberg allegedly: (1) sent letters to the school accusing the alleged victim of sexual misconduct with a student; (2) created Facebook posts repeating the accusations of sexual misconduct; and (3) established a fake Twitter account representing that the alleged victim was a segregationist and in favor of white supremacy.. And even if this narrow description were insufficient for Mr. Greenberg to discern the alleged victim's identity, the United States represents that it has produced over 5,300 pages of documents in discovery, and in those documents, the alleged victim is identified by first or last name on over 400 occasions...
Thus, the information Mr. Greenberg seeks in his first request has already been provided to him by other sources, and he is therefore not entitled to a bill of particulars.
Greenberg also engaged in a course of conduct that caused and attempted to cause substantial emotional distress to a political opponent who worked in the Middle District of Florida, including by knowingly mailing false letters to the school where the employee worked. The letters claimed to be from an anonymous “very concerned student” of the school who claimed to know the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a particular student.
COUNT TWENTY-FOUR
(Stalking)A. Introduction
At times relevant to this Third Superseding Indictment:
1. The defendant, JOEL MICAH GREENBERG, was the elected Tax Collector of Seminole County, Florida, in the Middle District of Florida. JOEL MICAH GREENBERG used the mail, an interactive computer service, an electronic communication service, an electronic communication system of interstate commerce, and a facility of interstate commerce to engage in a course of conduct that caused, attempted to cause, and would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a political opponent who is known to the Grand Jury and who worked at a school located in the Middle District of Florida (referred to herein as the “school employee”).
2. JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused letters to be sent by the United States Mail to the school located in the Middle District of Florida where the school employee worked. The letters falsely represented that they were being sent by an anonymous “very concerned student” of the school who had information that the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a particular student, when in truth and in fact, as JOEL MICAH GREENBERG then and there well knew, the allegations were false. The following is a redacted copy of the body of the false letter:
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3. JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused a Twitter account to be set up using the name and photograph of the school employee. JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused postings to be made using that account that represented that the school employee was a segregationist and in favor of white supremacy, when in truth and in fact, as JOEL MICAH GREENBERG then and there well knew, JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused the Twitter account to be established without the school employee’s knowledge, consent, or authorization. The Internet was used to establish the Twitter account and to make the postings for that account, which included the following:
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4, JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused a Facebook account to be set up that claimed to belong to a “very concerned teacher” at the school located in the Middle District of Florida where the school employee worked. JOEL MICAH GREENBERG caused postings to be made using that account that alleged that the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a student, when in truth and in fact, as JOEL MICAH GREENBERG then and there well knew, the allegations were false. The Internet was used to establish the Facebook account and to make the postings for that account, which included the following:
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5. Facebook and Twitter were each an interactive computer service, an electronic communication service, and an electronic communication system of interstate commerce. The Internet was a facility of interstate commerce.
B. Course of Conduct
6. Beginning on or about a date unknown to the Grand Jury, but not later than on or about October 10, 2019, and continuing through and including on or about November 15, 2019, in the Middle District of Florida, and elsewhere, the defendant,
JOEL MICAH GREENBERG,
with the intent to harass and intimidate another person, that is, the school employee, did knowingly use the mail, an interactive computer service, an electronic communication service, an electronic communication system of interstate commerce, and a facility of interstate commerce to engage in a course of conduct that caused, attempted to cause, and would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a person, that is, the school employee.
In violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(2), 2261(b)(5), and 2.
Anybody who had the forethought to frame an opponent for political office by setting up a fake Twitter account and a fake Facebook page in order to plant false narratives for personal gain is not above repeating this behavior.
Matt Gaetz' accuser has a history of accusing others of his own crimes or accusing others of crimes in order to improve his own political position.
In summary, Greenberg's lawyer insinuated by innuendo that Gaetz was involved in the crimes that Greenberg was arrested for. Greenberg has a prior history of accusing others of crimes, going so far as to create false evidence and using that evidence to harass his opponents' employers.
-PJ
Very interesting post. Thanks.