ORLANDO, Fla — In front of his Santa Rosa Beach home. retired Air Force Capt. Nathan Nelson, Rep. Matt Gaetz’s former director of military affairs, told reporters that he had been contacted by the FBI last Wednesday regarding the investigation into his former boss and that he had almost no knowledge of former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg.
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“I have never met Joel Greenberg and my first knowledge of his name came from the media reports that came out last Tuesday, so that was my first time hearing of him,” said Nelson on Monday.
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Greenberg, who was originally arrested last year on federal stalking charges, now faces 33 charges including sex trafficking. For years, Gaetz and Greenberg had been close friends, appearing at several events together and on social media posts. According to sources, it was the arrest of Greenberg that first led the Department of Justice under Attorney General Bill Barr to begin looking into Gaetz.
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Nelson also said while he remained “loosely affiliated” with Gaetz and his office he said he no longer worked there, but that his departure had nothing to do with the Department of Justice investigation into Gaetz regarding possible sex trafficking of a 17-year-old.