Gaetz friend was lightning rod for controversy in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — It all started with a hunch by a central Florida prep school teacher about who had launched a politically motivated smear campaign against him, falsely alleging he was racist and in a sexual relationship with a high school student.

Investigators say fingerprints on an envelope used in the smear campaign against Brian Beute led them to a local tax collector, Joel Greenberg. That investigation subsequently led to Greenberg's friend, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is now the subject of a probe into whether the congressman and tax collector paid women or offered them gifts in exchange for sex and whether one of them was underage.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and insists he will not resign his seat in Congress. Greenberg has pleaded not guilty to 33 charges, though his attorney and prosecutors said last week they are working toward a plea deal. “He's uniquely situated,” said Fritz Scheller, Greenberg's attorney.

The friendship between the congressman and the tax collector was one built on undying support for former President Donald Trump, selfies outside the White House, interest in cryptocurrency and a talent for shocking critics with their outrageous actions. Both were scions of wealthy Florida families.

Even before his arrest, Greenberg, 36, was a lightning rod for controversy.

With no previous political experience, Greenberg was elected Seminole County's tax collector in 2016, promising to be a breath of fresh air against an incumbent who had been in office for almost three decades.

Months after taking office in 2017, he started allowing employees to carry guns openly, even though then-Attorney General Pam Bondi's office would say later in an informal, nonbinding opinion that they shouldn't openly carry firearms in their jobs since they...