In a major development, GOP Representative Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend has agreed to cooperate with the federal authorities in the alleged sex trafficking case involving the congressman, according to US media reports.

The woman, a former Capitol Hill staffer, will inevitably be a critical witness given she has been linked to Gaetz as far as back as the summer of 2017, a key period involving the investigation. 

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The news of Gaetz’s girlfriends accepting to cooperate in the investigations comes days after the Justice Department formally entered into a plea agreement with Joel Greenberg, a former associate of Gaetz whose entanglement with young women first drew the congressman onto investigators’ radar.

Meanwhile, the woman can demystify the relevance of hundreds of transactions that have obtained by the investigators, including those involving alleged payments for sex, a CNN report said.

While working towards a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Greenberg told investigators that Gaetz and at least two other men had sexual contact with a 17-year-old girl, according to CNN reports.

However, Gaetz has repeatedly denied he ever had sex with a minor or paid for sex.

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“Congressman Gaetz doesn’t seem to be named nor referenced in Greenberg’s plea,” said Gaetz spokesman Harlan Hill, CNN reported.

“Congressman Gaetz has never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex. Greenberg has now pleaded guilty to falsely accusing someone else of sex with a minor. That person was innocent. So is Congressman Gaetz.”