>>> TURNING TO AN EXPLOSIVE NEW >>> TURNING TO AN EXPLOSIVE NEW ALLEGED CONFESSION IN THE MATT GAETZ SEX CRIME INVESTIGATION. WHAT IM ABOUT TO REPORT TO YOU RIGHT NOW IS A BOMBSHELL THAT WOULD CHANGE EVERYTHING IF TRUE. "THE DAILY BEAST" REPORTING ON AN ALLEGED CONFESSION LETTER THEY CLAIM WAS WRITTEN BY A WELL-KNOWN GAETZ ASSOCIATE, JOEL GREENBERG, WHO ALLEGED BY WROTE CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ PAID FOR SEX WITH MULTIPLE WOMEN AS WELL AS A GIRL WHO WAS 17 AT THE TIME. THIS IS A POTENTIAL BREAKTHROUGH. IF IT SOUNDS FAMILIAR, THIS IS THE INDICTED GAETZ ALLY AT THE CENTER OF THIS WHOLE DOJ PROBE. NOW ACCORDING TO THE DA"THE DAIL BEAST" ACCUSING GAETZ OF A MAJOR SEX CRIME IN WRITING. THATS "THE DAILY BEAST" REPORTING. YOU CAN SEE IMMEDIATELY WHY IT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A BOMBSHELL. I HAVE TO DO WHAT WE ALWAYS DO AROUND HERE WHICH IS TELL YOU WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DONT. NBC NEWS HAS NOT VERIFIED THIS ACCOUNT OR BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN OR SEE THIS UNDERLYING LETTER. BUT "THE DAILY BEAST" DOES SAY THEY HAVE THIS EXPLOSIVE LETTER. THEY SAY THEY VERIFIED IT. AND IT ALLEGES THAT, QUOTE, PAYMENTS WERE MADE TO SEVERAL OF THE GIRLS, INCLUDING THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS NOT YET 18, A MINOR. NOW, WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT WERE READING FROM, THIS WRITTEN CONFESSION, IT IS NOT JUST SOME RANDOM PERSON MAKING AN ALLEGATION AGAINST A POLITICIAN. THIS IS A GAETZ ALLY WHO SPENT TIME WITH HIM, AS THESE PHOTOS ATTEST, WHICH IS UNDER HUGE LEGAL PRESSURE TO NOT ONLY GIVE THE FEDS FACTUAL INFORMATION BUT INFORMATION WITH EVIDENCE THAT THE FEDS CAN USE IN COURT. SO WITH THAT IN MIND, NOTE THAT GREENBERG ALLEGED HE ALSO SAYS HE SAW THE ACTS OCCUR FIRSTHAND. AND HE GOES ON TO DIRECTLY IMPLICATE GAETZ SAYING PAYMENTS WERE MADE TO THESE GIRLS ON BEHALF OF CONGRESSMAN, END QUOTE. GAETZ FACES THIS CRIMINAL PROBE THATS ONGOING, INCLUDING SERIOUS POTENTIAL CHARGES LIKE SEX TRAFFICKING AND POSSIBLE SEX WITH A MINOR. FOR HIS PART HE DENIES ALL ALLEGATIONS. HE HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED WITH A CRIME. SO LETS TAKE THIS HIT. IF YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS STORY, ITS A DOOSIE. WHY WOULD GREENBERG PUT ANY OF THIS IN WRITING IN THE FIRST PLACE? THATS ALSO VERY INTERESTING. "THE DAILY BEAST" REPORTING THIS WAS HIS LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO SAVE HIMSELF, WHEN HE REACHED OUT TO A VERY CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP ALLY PICTURED IN THIS VIDEO, LONG-TIME ADVISER TO DONALD TRUMP ROGER STONE WHO FACED HIS OWN LEGAL TROUBLE. HE WAS ARRESTED HERE. HE WAS RAIDED. HE WAS PROSECUTED. HE WAS CONVICTED. THE ONLY WAY OUT OF THIS MESS WAS THAT HE ULTIMATELY RECEIVED A VERY CONTROVERSIAL PARDON FROM HIS LONG-TIME FRIEND, DONALD TRUMP. SO "THE DAILY BEAST" OBTAINED TEXT MESSAGES FROM GREENBERG DIRECTLY ASKING STONE TO GET FOR HIM WHAT HE GOT FOR HIMSELF, A PARDON. IF I GET YOU $250,000 IN BITCOIN, DOES IT MATTER? I HOPE YOU ARE PREPARED TO WIRE ME A QUARTER MILLION BECAUSE IM FEELING CONFIDENT. A REFERENCE THAT HE COULD GET A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON FOR GREENBERG, WHICH DID NOT OCCUR. AS A TAX COLLECTOR IN FLORIDA, HES INDICTED ON CHARGES OF SEX TRAFFICKING, MISUSING TAXPAYER MONEY AND OTHERS. GREENBERG SUGGESTED THERE COULD BE COOPERATION. GREENBERG ASKED HIM TO GET HIM A PARDON FROM TRUMP THERE. ALL OF THIS MEANS THAT CONFESSION LETTER WAS DESIGNED TO HELP STONE MAKE THE CASE FOR THE PARDON. THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY. AS ALWAYS, YOU NEED TO GET ALL OF IT. GAETZ PUBLICIST TELLING NBC CONGRESSMAN GAETZ HAS NEVER PAID FOR SEX, NOR HAS HE HAD SEX WITH A 17 AS AN ADULT ADDING, QUOTE, "THE DAILY BEAST"S STORY CONTAINS A LOT OF CONFESSIONS FROM MR. GREENBERG. IT DOES NOT ADD ANYTHING OF SUBSTANCE. NOW, "THE DAILY BEAST" STORY APPEARS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IT INCLUDES THIS ALLEGED CONFESSION AND ACCUSATIONS OF NEW, POSSIBLE PARDON SCANDALS COMING OUT OF TRUMP WORLD. IT IS A BIG DEAL, AND OUR GUESTS ARE GOING TO WALK US THROUGH IT. AS TO GAETZS RESPONSE, LETS BE CLEAR, IF MR. GREENBERG ONLY HAS WORDS, ACCUSATIONS AND ZERO EVIDENCE, THAT MAY NOT GO VERY FAR IN COURT. THE QUESTION FACING GREENBERG AND THE INVESTIGATORS AND OF COURSE GAETZ HIMSELF IS WHETHER THIS VERY SERIOUS ACCUSATION CAN BE PROVEN. TO GET INTO ALL OF IT NOW, WERE JOINED BY "THE NEW YORK TIMES" MICHELLE GOLDBERG AND ATTORNEY NANCY SMITH WHO KNOWS HER WAY AROUND THESE TRICKY ISSUES. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. WE HAVE BEEN COVERING THIS STORY. THIS IS CLEARLY THE BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT IN IT. I WENT THROUGH GREAT PAINS TO EMPHASIZE WHAT WE KNOW AND WHAT WE DONT AND NBC HASNT BEEN ABLE TO VERIFY THAT LETTER. WALK US THROUGH LEGALLY WHAT YOU SEE HERE. >> WELL, THE"THE DAILY BEAST" DI GET A HANDWRITING EXPERT AND THEY COMPARED THE HANDWRITTEN LETTER, AND THERE WERE TYPED VERSIONS, WITH VARIOUS PIECES OF HANDWRITING THEY KNOW WERE GREENBERGS. SO THATS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT. "THE DAILY BEAST" ALSO VIEWED 150 VENMO PAYMENTS FROM GAETZ TO GREENBERG AND VERY ODDLY NAMED WHAT THEY WERE FOR. SO WERE LOOKING AT AT LEAST A MINIMUM FOR ONE COUNT IS TEN YEARS IN PRISON, NOT LESS THAN TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEX WITH A MINOR. THEN WERE LOOKING AT INTERESTING TRAVEL FOR SEX. THEN WERE LOOKING AT SOLICITING PROSTITUTION. THEN WERE LOOKING AT TRAFFICKING 17-YEAR-OLD. AND THEN POSSIBLY, I HAVE ALWAYS WONDERED WHETHER THIS WAS PORNOGRAPHY BECAUSE GREENBERG SAID HE SAW THE ACTS FIRSTHAND IN HIS LETTER. AND WE KNOW THAT GAETZ SHOWED NUDE PICTURES AROUND THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS. SO WAS THERE AN ELEMENT OF PORNOGRAPHY GOING ON HERE WITH UNDERAGED GIRLS? REALLY, MY HEART GOES OUT TO THESE HIGH SCHOOL AGED GIRLS WHO WERE PREYED UPON BY THESE MEN MORE THAN TWICE THEIR AGE. I WAS SHOCKED WHEN I READ THAT GREENBERG SAID THAT HE CONFRONTED THE 17-YEAR-OLD, AND SHE APOLOGIZED FOR ALLEGEDLY NOT TELLING THEM SHE WAS 17. THAT LEVEL OF DEPRAVITY IS HARD TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND. BUT IT SHOWS A TREATMENT OF WOMEN. I MEAN, THATS AN ADMISSION OF A TREATMENT OF WOMEN LIKE, ITS YOUR FAULT YOURE SO YOUNG AND I PAID YOU FOR SEX AND TRAFFICKED YOU. THERE IS A LOT HERE. >> YEAH. NANCY -- NANCY, SPEAK MORE ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THIS OBVIOUSLY HAS ALL THE MAKINGS OF A POLITICAL SCANDAL AND THE PARDON PIECE WHICH I WANT TO GET TO WITH MICHELLE. BUT YOU ADVOCATED AND REPRESENTED PEOPLE IN VARIOUS RANGES OF THESE TYPES OF CASES. YOU ARE SPEAKING OF THE FACT THAT ALLEGEDLY AGAIN THIS INVOLVED ALLEGED VICTIMS. IT INVOLVES REAL PEOPLE. IT IS NOT JUST A STORY ABOUT WHETHER MR. GAETZ WILL STAY IN CONGRESS OR NOT. SPEAK ON THE POINT YOU ARE RAISING THERE. >> YEAH. ITS REALLY SHOCKING TO ME HOW THE YOUNG, VERY YOUNG WOMEN HAVE BEEN TREATED. THE LAST TIME I WAS ON, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A YOUNG GIRL WHO WAS TERRIFIED AND WHO HAD MAYBE TAPE RECORDED MATT GAETZS FORMER GIRLFRIEND IN ORDER TO PROTECT HERSELF AND MAYBE HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE PROSECUTORS. IT IS SORT OF REMINISCENT OF MONICA LEWINSKY BEING ABUSED BY KEN STAR. THE VICTIMS ARE NOT DISCUSSED AT ALL. A 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL APPARENTLY IN A GROUP SEX ACT -- THATS HOW IT READS FROM THE CONFESSIONAL LETTER THAT WAS ALLEGEDLY WRITTEN BY GREENBERG HECHLT SAYS HE SAW THE ACTS FIRSTHAND. SO THERE IS NOT SOME PRIVATE SEX ACT GOING ON. WE KNOW GAETZ LOVED TO SHOW NUDE PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUNG WOMEN HE SAID HE WAS HAVING SEX WITH. IT IS SO SHOCKING THAT IT HURTS ME. AND I FEEL REALLY FEEL FOR THESE YOUNG WOMEN WHO ARE CAUGHT IN SUCH A DIFFICULT LEGAL POSITION. >> APPRECIATE YOU MAKING THAT POINT, AND THAT WAS ANOTHER DETAIL ON "THE DAILY BEAST" ARTICLE WHICH, AGAIN, AS YOU KNOW, IF TRUE ALLEGEDLY SOUNDS LIKE VERY GUILTY BECAUSE IT ALLEGES THAT MR. GREENBERG GOT THIS INFORMATION AND THEN FOLLOWED UP ON IT WITH THE UNDERSTANDING OR BELIEF THAT THIS WAS A MINOR. >> YES. >> MICHELLE, AS IF THIS ALL WASNT ENOUGH, WE HAVENT EVEN HIT THE PARDON PART YET, WHICH IS THAT ACCORDING TO THIS, A SEX CRIME PARDON GOES FOR ABOUT A QUARTER MILLION AS FAR AS ROGER STONE CONSIDERED IT, AND HES NOT NOBODY. HES ONE OF DONALD TRUMPS CLOSEST LONGEST CONFIDANTS WHO HIMSELF ENDED UP GETTING A PARDON. THESE ARE PEOPLE IN A POSITION TO KNOW. NOW, I WANT TO MAKE SURE BEFORE I GO TO MICHELLE THAT WE ARE, AS PART OF OUR REPORTING, OBLIGATED TO READ THIS STATEMENT. THIS IS NEW FROM MR. STONE. QUOTE, I MADE NO EFFORT WHATSOEVER TO SECURE A PARDON FOR MR. GREENBERG. I TOOK NOT A DIME FROM HIM OR ANYONE ELSE SEEKING A PARDON. I HAVE SEEN NO SUBSTANTIATION OR ACTUAL PROOF OF WILD ACCUSATIONS HE HAS MADE AGAINST CONGRESSMAN GAETZ. DESPERATE MEN OFTEN TELL LIES IN AN EFFORT TO LESSEN THE PENALTIES AGAINST THEMSELVES, END QUOTE. MICHELLE, OUR STANDARDS DEPARTMENT, WHICH HAS RIGGOUSLY GONE OVER THAT DEPARTMENT REQUIRES THAT DEFENSE FROM MR. STONE. YOUR VIEW ON ALL OF THE ABOVE AND WHAT SOUNDS LIKE A POTENTIAL PARDON SCANDAL? >> WELL, I DONT KNOW. I AM NOT A LAWYER. I HAVE NO IDEA IF ITS A CRIME TO TRY TO SELL A PARDON IF YOU DONT DO IT. BUT I DO -- BECAUSE IT DOES SEEM LIKE THERE WAS A GOING RATE, I HOPE THAT JOE BIDENS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING INTO THE WAY, YOU KNOW, TO DEAL WITH CORRUPT DEALINGS IN PARDONS BOTH WITH ROGER STONE AND OTHERS IN THE ADMINISTRATION BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF REPORTING ABOUT A LOT OF MONEY PASSING AROUND AND A LOT OF -- THIS IS BASICALLY JUST A CASH TRANSACTION FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE. THE OTHER THING I WOULD POINT OUT IS THAT, AGAIN, IM NOT A LAWYER, BUT GREENBERG IS A PERSON WHO WAS KNOWN TO MAKE FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES. SO IT MEANS TO ME -- >> FAIR. >> -- THAT IF PROSECUTORS ARE CUTTING A DEAL WITH HIM, THEY WOULDNT JUST DO SO ON HIS WORD. RIGHT? HES A PERSON WHO APPEARS TO HAVE COMMITTED MANY, MANY DIFFERENT TIMES, WHO IS AN UNRELIABLE NARRATOR, AS ROGER STONE SAID. BUT TO ME, THATS ALL THE MORE TELLING ABOUT WHY PROSECUTORS ARE WILLING TO CUT A DEAL WITH HIM. IT WOULD SUGGEST AT LEAST TO ME THAT ITS LIKELY THAT THEY HAVE MORE THAN JUST HIS WORDS. AND, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER DETAIL IS "THE DAILY BEAST" STORY THAT I THOUGHT WAS SO INTERESTING IS THAT IT TALKS ABOUT ROGER STONE SENDING MESSAGES ON HIS APP SIGNAL MEANT TO QUICKLY DISAPPEAR, BUT GREENBERG IS TAKING PICTURES OF ALL OF THEM. IF THATS HIS M.O., YOU KNOW, IT
