'Damaging' sealed testimony about Matt Gaetz accessed by hacker: report

A hacker reportedly gained access to a file containing "damaging" testimony against President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz.

The unidentified hacker accessed a secure link among lawyers whose clients testified against the Florida Republican, according to a knowledgable source who spoke to the New York Times.

"The file is said to include sworn testimony by a woman who said that she had sex with Mr. Gaetz in 2017 when she was 17, in addition to testimony by a second woman who said that she had witnessed the encounter," the Times reported. "The material does not appear to have been made public by the hacker."

The Department of Justice dropped its investigation of Gaetz last year with no charges filed against the former congressman, the report noted.

Gaetz denies the accusations.

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Gaetz resigned last week when Trump announced his nomination, a day before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on releasing its report on the allegations, reports show.

"The files were downloaded by a person using the name Altam Beezley at 1:23 p.m. on Monday, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly," the Times reported. "A lawyer connected to the case sent an email to the address associated with Altam Beezley, only to be informed in an automated reply that the recipient does not exist."

The documents also include information under seal with the DOJ and House Ethics Committee, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday to decide whether to release the Gaetz report, according to the Times.

"The hacked trove of documents stems from an altogether different source: a civil suit being pursued by a friend of Mr. Gaetz’s, Christopher Dorworth, a Florida businessman," the newspaper reported. "Mr. Dorworth filed the suit against both the woman who says she had sex with Mr. Gaetz when she was a minor and Joel Greenberg, an erstwhile ally of Mr. Gaetz who is serving an 11-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal sex trafficking charges involving the woman."