Adam Kinzinger is the First Republican Calling for Matt Gaetz to Step Down

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) called on Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to “resign” late Thursday night, becoming the first Republican to do so.

Kinzinger tweeted Thursday, “Matt Gaetz needs to resign.” He also linked to a Daily Beast article that detailed Gaetz sending money through a phone payment service application, “Venmo,” to an accused sex trafficker.

The Daily Beast reported, May 2018, there were two “late-night Venmo transactions” to an accused sex trafficker, Joel Greenberg. The Beast detailed Gaetz sent $900 in the late-night transaction to Greenberg. The following morning, over the course of eight minutes, “Greenberg used the same app to send three young women varying sums of money. In total, the transactions amounted to $900,” according to the Beast.

Matt Gaetz needs to resign. https://t.co/AygfqAxQJX via @thedailybeast

— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) April 9, 2021

In the transactions from Gaetz to Greenberg, the first transaction description said “Test,” and in the second transaction, he wrote, “hit up ___,”according to the Beast. “But instead of a blank, Gaetz wrote a nickname for one of the recipients,” the outlet said, who, in their initial reporting, they intentionally left out the nickname since the “teenager had only turned 18 less than six months before.”

Friday morning, Gaetz is said to have hired the white-collar criminal defense lawyers Marc Mukasey & Isabelle Kirshner. The two of them will lead his legal team.

New: @RepMattGaetz has hired white collar criminal defense lawyers Marc Mukasey & Isabelle Kirshner to lead his legal team. Mukasey has a long history in former President Trump’s orbit, and notably defended SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted of murder in 2019.

— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) April 9, 2021

Last week, Gaetz reportedly said he has no plans to resign after the Hill originally reported he is being investigated by the Department of Justice due to allegations regarding an inappropriate relationship with a minor and violation of sex trafficking laws.

Gaetz won his reelection in 2020 with over 64 percent of the vote.