The U.S. Department of Justice has joined the overlapping investigations into NFL superstar quarterback Deshaun Watson regarding the alleged sexual abuse of multiple masseuse therapists.
The FBI is probing into whether one of the women who accused Watson had tried to extort the Houston Texans signal-caller with the threat of outing him. Other agencies investigating Watson include the Houston Police Department, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the NFL.
Watson is accused of sexual improprieties by two dozen women who were hired to perform massages on him. His attorney, Rusty Hardin, assured the public that Watson is not the object of the feds’ inquiry.
“In April, the FBI came to us and told us they were investigating a matter as to whether one of Mr. [Tony] Buzbee’s clients had committed extortion in the way they were demanding money from Deshaun or what they would do if they didn’t pay it,” Hardin said during a news conference, according to ESPN.
Watson did admit that he engaged in sexual relations with many of the women but hastened to add that all of the encounters were consensual.
“We were not the ones who contacted them; they contacted us. We talked to [the FBI]. We even let them interview Deshaun — and if y’all can find a lawyer that will let his client talk to the FBI if the lawyer had thought his client had done anything wrong or had any exposure, then I’ll be very, very surprised.”
