On CNN Thursday, attorney David Bear, who is representing a political opponent of the former Florida tax official at the center of the sex trafficking scandal involving Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), made clear that if his Venmo payments were for sex acts with minors, then using an intermediary will not help his legal situation at all.
"How damaging are the Venmo transactions that were mentioned from the Daily Beast in the last segment?" asked anchor Chris Cuomo.
"Oh my gosh, that's incredibly powerful evidence," said Bear. "As a former prosecutor sitting here hearing that recounted, it's sort of strikes me as a lot of people think, well, if I don't directly hand the money to that person or I don't directly shoot that person or whatever the crime might be, then I can't be responsible. That's certainly not true. Like, if you operate through an intermediary, you're just as responsible, whether it's a financial transaction or a violent crime or whatever. So, you know a lot of people that aren't prosecutors or aren't practicing law might not think that way. They might think they're building themselves some insulation if they have some go between, some intermediary. But that certainly is not the case."
Watch below:
Attorney David Bear on Matt Gaetz's Venmo paymentswww.youtube.com
