A hacker on Monday gained access to a file containing the sworn depositions of two women involved in the investigation into Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
That file included the testimony of the woman who alleges she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17 years old in 2017, as well as the testimony of a second woman who said she witnessed the encounter, and the information is unredacted, according to the source.
Attorney John Clune, who represents the woman alleging she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17, told NBC News: “We were informed last night by another law firm that an unauthorized user accessed a shared file with a number of confidential documents.”
Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department in a case involving the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has always denied those allegations and has never been criminally charged.
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That probe effectively ended last week when Gaetz resigned from Congress after president-elect Donald Trump picked him to be his nominee for Attorney General.
The file was downloaded from a secure link by a person using the name Altam Breezley, according to the source.
The file includes other related documentation that’s under seal and the hacker accessed hundreds of pages, the source said.
The news of the hacking was first reported by the New York Times. NBC News is not reporting the names of the women who are accusing Gaetz.
It’s not immediately clear if any of the hacked information has been made public or if law enforcement is investigating the matter. A representative for Gaetz did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
A source familiar with the contents of the files accessed characterized the contents as very detailed and damaging to Gaetz.
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