Joel Greenberg flaunted ties to Matt Gaetz. Then he was charged with child sex trafficking

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Until last year, Joel Greenberg was an ascendant political player in Seminole County, Fla., where he unseated a longtime incumbent in the race for county tax collector, won a political battle to allow his deputies to carry guns on the job and flaunted his connections to prominent Republicans with close ties to then-President Donald Trump, including Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Roger Stone.

But last June his reputation fell apart in spectacular fashion when federal investigators arrested him on stalking and child sex trafficking charges, prompting his resignation.

On Tuesday, the case against Greenberg, 36, gained national prominence after the New York Times reported that it had also sparked a separate criminal investigation into allegations that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/31/joel-greenberg-matt-gaetz-investigations/

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1. Greenberg is piece of work

Shortly after his victory, Greenberg made headlines again as he pushed for his deputy tax collectors to be allowed to carry guns to work — a move opposed by then-attorney general Pam Bondi (R). He began wearing his tax collector badge around his neck like a police official, and in December 2017, flashed the badge to pull over a woman and accuse her of speeding, WESH reported. A month later, he used his title while trying to sway an actual police officer who stopped him for driving 39 mph in a 25 mph zone.

“If there’s any way on earth — I’m just trying to stay off the front page of the damn newspaper: ‘Tax collector gets ticket.’ This is the kind of political crap I have to deal with,” Greenberg said in a plea captured on a police body camera. He got the ticket anyway.

Greenberg also navigated a political quagmire after the Orlando Sentinel reported he had inappropriately funneled $3.5 million of taxpayer dollars to his friends, including three men who were in his wedding party.

An independent audit conducted for the county also found he had used public funds to buy body armor, weapons, ammunition and a drone. He also purchased a $90,000 server room to benefit a cryptocurrency company he created. Those servers overloaded a circuit breaker inside a county building, sparking a fire that caused $6,700 in damages that weren’t covered by insurance, the audit said.

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2. paging Carl Hiassen...