Damaging testimony about former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. attorney general, was accessed by an unidentified hacker, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The hacker, using the alias Altam Beezley, downloaded a computer file Monday that contained sworn testimony from a woman who said she had sex with Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, according to the report. One of the 24 leaked exhibits also contained corroborating testimony from a second woman who said she witnessed the encounter, according to the Times.
The leaked documents include information that is under seal with the Department of Justice, which opted against filing charges against Gaetz in the matter, and the House Ethics Committee, which also investigated Gaetz until he resigned from Congress in the hours after Trump announced him as his nominee for AG last week.
None of the leaked information appeared to have been made public by the hacker as of Tuesday morning, and the person's possible motive is unclear, according to the Times.
The House ethics panel is meeting Wednesday, at which time it's expected the members will vote on whether to release findings on Gaetz.
A growing number of Senate Republicans have called on the House panel to turn over its findings before confirmation hearings that would begin in January. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
An attorney who said he represented two women who testified to the committee said Monday that Gaetz paid his clients, who were adults, for sex and that one of his clients witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl, an allegation that lines up with the Times' report of information that was hacked Monday.
The attorney, Joel Leppard, said one of the women saw Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17 at the time, at a Florida house party in July 2017.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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