A new explosive report gives salacious details about how Rep. Matt Gaetz allegedly used his office and power. The Daily Beast says witnesses claim the Florida lawmaker snorted cocaine with an escort in a 2019 party during a hotel stay that was paid for with campaign cash. The party in question took place in late October 2019, when Gaetz was the featured speaker at the “Trump Defender Gala,” a fundraiser in Orlando. Gaetz held an afterparty in his hotel room and that’s when the escort, named Megan Zalonka, “prepared lines of cocaine on the bathroom counter.” One witness claims to remember “Zalonka pulling the drugs out of her makeup bag, rolling a bill of cash, and joining Gaetz in snorting the cocaine.” Although the witnesses don’t confirm whether Gaetz and Zalonka had sex that night, she was “one of the many pieces of arm candy he had,” one witness said.
Details of this latest party come shortly after it was revealed that Gaetz’s long-time wingman, Joel Greenberg, will plead guilty to six federal charges, including sex trafficking with a child. As part of his plea agreement, Greenberg, a former elected tax collector in Florida, agreed to “cooperate fully in the investigation and prosecution of other persons.” In the plea agreement, Greenberg acknowledges he was involved in “sugar daddy” relationships with women, including a minor with whom he engaged in “commercial sex acts.” Greenberg also acknowledged he “introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the minor.” Although the other men aren’t identified, it seems clear Gaetz was one of them. Among other things, Greenberg will reportedly identify Zalonka as one of “more than 15 young women” that Gaetz paid for sex, according to the Daily Beast. Zalonka stands apart from the other women though in that she managed to leverage her relationship with Greenberg into a “no-show” government contract that paid her as much as $17,500.
Gaetz has not been charged and denied any wrongdoing but did not comment on these specific allegations. The public relations firm Gaetz has hired declined to comment. “Congressman Gaetz won’t be commenting on whether he dated or didn’t date specific women,” the public relations firm said in a statement. “The privacy of women living private lives should be protected.” Zalonka’s attorney also declined to comment beyond saying that the allegations in the story were not “accurate.”
