A lawyer representing two women who were witnesses in the House Ethics Committee’s investigation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz is seeking release of the committee’s report, telling ABC News that one of his clients said she saw Florida congressman having sex with a minor.

“My client testified before the House Ethics Committee that she saw Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor,” Florida attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News.

“As the Senate considers the nomination of former Rep. Gaetz for attorney general, several questions demand answers,” Leppard said. “What if multiple credible witnesses provided evidence of conduct that would constitute serious criminal violations? »

“Democracy requires transparency. Release the Gaetz Ethics report,” said Leppard, who represents two women who testified behind closed doors before the committee over the summer.

Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped this week to become attorney general, has long denied any wrongdoing, including having an inappropriate relationship with a minor. The Justice Department declined to charge Gaetz last year after a yearlong investigation into the allegations.

Gaetz did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News regarding Leppard’s claims.

The two witnesses, whom ABC News is not naming, both reportedly attended parties with the congressman. Gaetz’s former friend, Joel Greenberg, is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after reaching a deal with prosecutors in May 2021 in which he pleaded guilty to several federal crimes, including sex trafficking the woman while ‘she was a minor and her presentation to others. “adult men” who also had sex with her when she was a minor.

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According to Greenberg’s plea agreement, the woman, whom ABC News is not identifying, met Greenberg online in 2017 and began meeting with him at hotels and homes in the Middle District of Florida, where he “met introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in sexual activities.” commercial sexual acts with the minor in the Middle District of Florida,” court documents state.

At the time, the minor “stated that she was an adult” on the website where she met Greenberg — and according to his plea agreement, he acknowledged that he “acted in reckless disregard of the fact that the minor was under 18 years old. old when he engaged in commercial sexual acts” and had “a reasonable opportunity to ascertain” that she was a minor.

Leppard’s statement comes after attorney John Clune, who represents the former miner at the center of the investigation, requested the release of the ethics committee’s report on Thursday.

“The likely nomination of Mr. Gaetz as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events. We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing its report. She was a high school student and there had witnesses,” Clune said in a statement. .

The woman, now in her 20s, testified before the House Ethics Committee that the former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 and he was in Congress, ABC News previously reported.

In a statement responding to the reports, Gaetz said: “These allegations are fabricated and would constitute perjury to Congress. This false defamation following a three-year criminal investigation must be viewed with great skepticism. »

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The Justice Department spent years investigating allegations against Gaetz, including allegations of obstruction of justice, before informing Gaetz last year that it would not bring charges.

Gaetz has long vehemently denied any wrongdoing related to the Justice Department investigation. In September, he released a detailed response to questions sent to him by the House Ethics Committee, which was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

“Your September 4 correspondence asks whether I have had sexual relations with anyone under the age of 18. The answer to this question is an unequivocal NO. You can apply this answer to every version of this question, on every forum” , Gaetz said in a statement. statement posted on his social media account.

Gaetz resigned from his position this week after being tapped to lead Trump’s Justice Department, ending the House Ethics Committee investigation that sources said had entered into its final stages. Before Gaetz’s resignation, the committee had planned to meet this week to discuss whether to release its report on the investigation — making it unclear whether the report would ever see the light of day.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday he doesn’t think the House Ethics Committee should release the findings of its investigation into Gaetz now that the Florida Republican is no longer a member of Congress .

I believe it is very important to maintain the House tradition of not releasing ethics reports on individuals who are no longer members of Congress. I think that would open Pandora’s box,” he said.

Leppard told ABC News he supports releasing the report.

“What if sworn testimony detailed conduct that would disqualify anyone from serving as our nation’s law enforcement leader?” the lawyer said in his statement to ABC News.