Pranksters have discovered Rep. Matt Gaetz’s Venmo account and are using the money-sharing app to troll the congressman with offers of cash in the wake of mounting sexual allegations against him.
The congressman, who is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines, has been mocked with donations listed as ‘bail cash’, ‘legal defense fund’ and even ‘FBI extortion money’.
Severals users referenced their donations as bail money, while one sent Gaetz a donation with the note: ‘Penny for your thoughts from prison.’
Another commented that the donation was for a ‘legal defense fund for your sex trafficking charges’, and a third simply stated: ‘Have fun in jail’.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is facing mounting sexual allegations, is being trolled on Venmo, with jokers making donations listed as ‘bail cash’, ‘legal defense fund’ and ‘FBI extortion money’
Pranksters are blasting Matt Gaetz’s account on the money-sharing app with small donations and scathing comments in the wake of mounting sexual allegations against him
Social media has picked up on the trolling, with one Tweet stating: ‘People have discovered Matt Gaetz Venmo and it’s not pretty.’
Another asked: ‘Are people actually paying Matt Gaetz just to leave hate mail on his Venmo? It is a unique fundraising strategy.’
Although the amount of each donation is not shown, it seems that each one is minimal, with Twitter users revealing that you can send as little as one cent on Venmo.
One Tweeted: ‘I gave him a dime. Even felons deserve a snack from the commissary from time to time.’
The engaged congressman, 38, is expected to be indicted in a federal court over the next few weeks in connection to sexual activity with at least one minor, who testified before a Florida grand jury that she had sex with him before she turned 18, DailyMail.com has learned.
Investigators have also reportedly been looking into allegations he paid women via Apple Pay for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by former tax collector Joel Greenberg.
Social media has picked up on the trolling with Twitter users sharing the Venmo comments
Greenberg is currently in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges related to a minor aged between 14 and 17 across a six-month period in 2017.
Sources said the minor is the same 17-year-old girl at the center of Gaetz’s sex trafficking probe and the DOJ is investigating whether other men connected to the two men also had sex with the child.
Gaetz has denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran.
The Trump ally was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016. Prior to this, he represented Florida’s 4th House district in the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee from 2010 to 2016.
Severals users referenced their donations as bail money, while one sent Gaetz a donation with the note: ‘Penny for your thoughts from prison’
Although the amount of each donation is not shown, it seems that each one is minimal, with Twitter users revealing that you can send as little as one cent on Venmo
Reports surfaced this week claiming he had also showed off naked photos of women he said he had slept with to other lawmakers on the House floor and that he has been warned in the past about behaving professionally in Congress.
Multiple sources, including two people who said they had been shown the compromising photos first hand, told CNN the congressman displayed the images of the women on his phone including while he was on the House floor at the US Capitol.
One source described one video showing a naked woman with a hula hoop, as another said ‘it was a point of pride’ for Gaetz to show the images off.
There is no evidence that the nude photos are in any way connected to the DOJ’s probe into allegations of sex trafficking. It is also unclear when these alleged encounters took place.
Gaetz has denied the allegations and instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran
Gaetz is engaged to food analyst Ginger Luckey, 26. The couple met at Mar-a-Lago early 2020 and he proposed at the club in December.
Luckey has not spoken publicly since news of the DOJ probe broke or to comment on the reports into her fiancé’s behavior.
While there is no known connection between these behaviors and the DOJ probe, members of Gaetz’s own party have not rushed to defend the lawmaker this week.
Calls are mounting for him to resign from office with Meghan McCain demanding his removal while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he should be kicked off his House committees if the claims against him are true.
