Disgraced congressman Matt Gaetz snorted cocaine and had wild sex with an escort at a fundraiser after-party two years ago, according to a new report. Megan Zalonka, the alleged escort and part-time model on Instagram, was paid taxpayers' money for a role that involved no work, according to a report in the Daily Beast.
Gaetz's 'wingman' Joel Greenberg will appear in court on Monday to plead guilty to six counts of fraud and sex crimes, it was reported on Friday. He will accuse Gaetz of paying prostitute Megan Zalonka after a cocaine-fueled party at a Trump fundraiser. Gaetz allegedly had a deal with Zalonka wherein she would be paid in exchange of sex.
Money and Sex
According to the Daily Beast, Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector, will accuse Gaetz of paying at least 15 young women for sex. Zalonka is just one of them. According o two witnesses, who spoke to the outlet, said that the Florida congressman retreated to the Westgate Lake Resort in Orlando for an afterparty after headlining the "Trump Defender Gala." There were other women also including Zalonka.
Zalonka, 28, who is a cannabis legalization spokeswoman and Gaetz were in the hotel room's bathroom together when she took out cocaine from a makeup bag and prepped lines on the countertop. Gaetz reportedly deducted the hotel bender as a campaign expense, having his donors essentially pick up the tab, according to the outlet.
The sources also told that Zalonka and Gaetz had an ongoing financial relationship in exchange for sex. The escort is said to have been paid up to $15,000 of taxpayers' money by Greenberg after he hired her for a social media manager job in Seminole County, Florida. However, she was not required to do any work. "She was just one of the many pieces of arm candy he had," said one source familiar with the encounters between Gaetz and Zalonka.
Dangerous Liaisons
Gaetz is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice over alleged sexual misconduct and claims he broke sex trafficking laws. However, Gaetz He's vehemently denied all the allegations and has also dismissed previous reports that he and his former party wingman and Greenberg had sex with a woman who reportedly was 17 years old at the time. Gaetz also insists he will not resign his seat in Congress.
Zalonka, however, is just one of the many women, who have been linked to Gaetz in recent weeks. Zalonka secured the social media job in 2017 and earned up to $17,500 from Greenberg, the site reported. The 'work' began in December 2017, when she liaised with Greenberg while creating her own company, MZ Strategy Group LLC.
The next month, Greenberg awarded her a county contract, agreeing to pay her $3,500 a month for 'management of digital content' and 'production of social media engagements.'
The claims were backed up by a review of "corresponding government records," according to the Daily Beast. Four people who were privy to Zalonka's arrangement told the outlet that the woman never worked at Greenberg's office and it remains vague as to what sort of services she supplied.
"I have no idea what they were doing. And employees wouldn't know what they were doing. Totally a no-show job," Daniel O'Keefe, who spearheaded a forensic audit into Greenberg's alleged self-enriching schemes, told the outlet.
The outlet claims to have found that Zalonka was paid $4,000 in mostly $500 installments from Greenberg's Venmo while he was serving his first term in office back in 2017.
Logan Circle Group, a public relations firm hired by Gaetz, said in a statement: "Congressman Gaetz won't be commenting on whether he dated or didn't date specific women. The privacy of women living private lives should be protected."
Mark J. O'Brien, a criminal defense lawyer, said the allegations about Zalonka were not "accurate" but said she would not be clarifying. Zalonka presently is works as the communications director for American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association, a group founded by Gaetz's friends, and which he has openly supported.
