Matt Gaetz, reportedly under investigation for sex trafficking, attacks Justice Department at CPAC

Florida congressman has denied any wrongdoing

Embattled Republican representative and self-described “Florida man” Matt Gaetz on Saturday lashed out at the federal agency reportedly investigating him for child sex trafficking, telling attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department were “cheaters” on par with Russia’s Olympic team.

Last month, Mr Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend testified before a Florida federal grand jury which is, according to NBC News, reportedly probing whether the Florida representative committed three specific crimes; “sex trafficking the 17-year-old; violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution; and obstructing justice”.

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Mr Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, but the federal probe into him also gained another cooperating witness last year when a former close friend and ally of the congressman, ex-Seminole County, Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to a host of federal crimes, including paying for sex with the same 17-year-old.

Speaking on Saturday in the hours before ex-president Donald Trump would take the CPAC stage, Mr Gaetz defiantly attacked the agencies said to be investigating him while refraining from mentioning the investigation into his conduct.

“Something ain’t right in this country when the Tinder Swindler is treating people better than our own government is treating us,” he said, adding that he had thought the Justice Department and FBI “were supposed to be the good guys” when he first ran for Congress in 2016.

“I was extorted by a former DOJ official, the FBI saw one of their own lawyers change evidence to frame President Trump before a secret court. They're cheats — worse than the Russian figure skating team over there at the Hoover Building,” he said.

Mr Gaetz added that Republican control of Congress should result in “every committee” investigating the agencies they are charged with overseeing with the aim of bringing them down.

“The intelligence committee should blow up Fisa [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] and the Judiciary Committee should stop the DOJ from targeting political opponents, whether they are parents whether they are falsely labelled as extremists or whether they are lawmakers engaged in the oversight of the Department of Justice,” he said.