The cooperator, Joseph Ellicott, witnessed the congressman attend parties involving 'frat party' behavior, his attorney said.
’s, people familiar with the matter said.
Zwick said that Ellicott was a friend of Greenberg and that Greenberg hired him to work in the tax collector’s office. Because of that friendship, Zwick said, Ellicott would be invited to parties when Gaetz was in town and Greenberg was trying to impress the lawmaker. “I would never say Joe and Gaetz were friends, but he was in the room during a lot of the conversations,” Zwick said. He declined to detail those conversations, saying he did not want to interfere with the ongoing investigation.“He has sat down with investigators to tell what he does know about those details,” Zwick said, adding later, “he was basically a similar witness to Greenberg on a lot of the details.
Zwick said that Ellicott last sat down with investigators to talk about Gaetz last fall, and that Ellicott has not provided testimony before the grand jury. Because the conduct at issue happened “some time ago,” Zwick said, Ellicott had to dig up materials to help remember events. He said Ellicott’s value as a cooperator depends largely on what federal prosecutors planned to do with his testimony.
“They haven’t really made that clear yet,” he said, adding, “It’s better than having your only witness as Joel Greenberg.”