Two women have filed a federal lawsuit accusing former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and two other men, including a former state legislator, of participating in an alleged sex-trafficking scheme while Gaetz was serving in Congress. The suit was filed in Orlando this week and seeks damages. The women are not identified in the complaint; they were in their early 20s when they first met Gaetz, according to the filing. It alleges the defendants exploited the women’s financial vulnerability, saying they used “public office, power, and wealth” to do so. Gaetz has said he will vigorously contest the allegations. The lawsuit’s claims have not been established in court. The allegations echo issues examined by the House Ethics Committee, which concluded that Gaetz had sex with a minor, solicited prostitutes and used illegal drugs. That investigation also helped derail his bid to become President Donald Trump’s attorney general. Gaetz resigned his Northwest Florida House seat to pursue the nomination, then withdrew his name before a potentially contentious Senate confirmation fight.