The Matt Gaetz story...

A man tied to the allegations of extortion pushed by Rep. Matt Gaetz said Monday evening that the Republican lawmaker is "trying to direct attention from himself" as Gaetz faces a Justice Department probe.

Bob Kent, a former Air Force intelligence officer, told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "Prime Time" that -- despite Gaetz's claims -- he never tried to extort money from Gaetz's father, and that such claims are not part of the Justice Department investigation into allegations involving sex trafficking and prostitution.

"There were no threats," Kent said. "There were no demands."

The Washington Examiner later said it had obtained documents in Matt Gaetz's possession purporting to lay out the alleged extortion scheme. The documents included a text message -- which Don Gaetz told the newspaper was from Kent -- saying the sender could make Matt Gaetz's "future legal and political problems go away" and an unsigned document titled "project homecoming." The document had no markings indicating the author.

That document suggested the FBI "became aware of compromising pictures" of Matt Gaetz and another election official involved with "underage prostitutes" during an unrelated investigation into political corruption. It suggests that Don Gaetz can mitigate his son's potential legal troubles by arranging for the funds needed to release Levinson from captivity in Iran.

But Kent -- who acknowledged sending the text in the interview with Cuomo -- maintained Monday evening that his communications with Don Gaetz weren't part of an extortion plot.

"When I left, the last thing I told Don Gaetz was that you'll never hear from me again. I'm not a threat to you or your son. I won't talk to the press. I'm not going to say a bad word about him," he said.

The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community in suburban Orlando was to put away their cellphones, according to two women in attendance who spoke to CNN in recent days. The men inside, a who's who of local Republican officials that often included Rep. Matt Gaetz, did not want the night's activities documented.

[snip]

One of the women said she received money from Greenberg after some of the parties. She said that some of the payments were for providing sex but would not say who she slept with. She did say she never received money directly from Gaetz.
Some of the parties were more low-key affairs, the other woman said. Some took place in hotel suites at the end of alcohol-filled political functions.

[snip]

One of the women who spoke to CNN said she did so in part because the picture of Gaetz as potentially connected to sex trafficking that has emerged in recent days does not align with what she saw. Both women said that they never saw anyone at the parties who appeared to be underage. Neither has spoken with federal investigators, they said.

Joel Greenberg, a former county tax collector and associate of Congressman Matt Gaetz, has signed a plea agreement with the federal government – and it includes a clause stipulating he'll "cooperate fully in the investigation and prosecution of other persons."

In the agreement made public Friday, Greenberg said he would plead guilty to six federal charges, including sex trafficking with a child.

According to the plea agreement, Greenberg admitted he was involved in "sugar daddy" relationships in which he paid women for sex, including a minor with whom he engaged in "commercial sex acts." The agreement also says Greenberg "introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the minor in the Middle District of Florida."