House Ethics report finds evidence Matt Gaetz paid thousands for sex and drugs including …
The House Ethics Committee found evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, according to the panel’s report on the Florida Republican released Monday.
The committee concluded in its bombshell document that Gaetz violated Florida state laws, including the state’s statutory rape law, as the GOP-led panel chose to take the rare step of releasing a report about a former member who resigned from Congress.
The panel investigated transactions Gaetz personally made, often using PayPal or Venmo, to more than a dozen women during his time in Congress, according to the report. Investigators also focused on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas – which they said “violated the House gift rule” – during which he “engaged in sexual activity” with multiple women, including one who described the trip itself as “the payment” for sex on the trip. On the same trip, he also took ecstasy, one woman on the trip told the committee.
Earlier this month, the House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release its report after initially voting against doing so. The vote to put out the report – which was opposed by panel Chairman Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican – was the culmination of a yearslong probe into allegations surrounding Gaetz. He was President-elect Donald Trump’s first pick to be attorney general but dropped out amid opposition from GOP senators and after CNN reported key details of this same ethics report.
And it’s a political jolt that could have reverberations for years to come, as the Capitol Hill panel takes aim at a longtime Trump loyalist and now conservative anchor at One America News Network.
Gaetz filed a civil complaint in federal court Monday morning unsuccessfully seeking to halt the report’s release, claiming he was not notified of the panel’s plans to release the report – as required by House rules – nor was he provided copies of the materials.
“As such, Plaintiff has been afforded no opportunity to respond to any report or investigative conclusions of Defendants,” the complaint reads. “Plaintiff has frequently and vehemently declared his innocence regarding the alleged misconduct, and requested Defendants cease their investigation and provide him appropriate due process rights.”
Gaetz claimed the panel has been “unresponsive” to those demands. Gaetz wrote in the lawsuit that he told the committee in writing in May that allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, misuse of campaign funds and other actions were all false.
But his unusual ask of a federal court to block congressional action is now essentially moot because the report has been released publicly. Gaetz said in a court filing Monday afternoon that the lawsuit he brought against the House Ethics Committee to block the release of its report is now moot, due to the committee’s “unprecedented and procedurally defective decision” to publish the report.
Gaetz paid ‘tens of thousands’ for sex and drugs, ethics report says
The committee posted the report on its website Monday morning while noting in a statement the “significant and unusual amount” of reporting about the panel’s probe of Gaetz. Without identifying specific stories, the committee stated that some reporting about its probe had been “inaccurate.” The committee condemned any potential unauthorized disclosures but emphasized that committee witnesses are permitted to disclose information about their interactions with its investigators. The panel also released appendices with its evidence, including financial documents and text messages cited in the report.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has pointed to the Justice Department declining to bring charges against him in 2023.
In a statement Gaetz released on X last week after CNN reported that the committee had voted to release the report, Gaetz denied having sex with a minor or paying women for sex.
In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated – even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years,” Gaetz said. “It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.
Although the committee alleged that Gaetz violated state laws, the panel wrote that it did not find he violated federal sex-trafficking laws, writing that “although Representative Gaetz did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex, the Committee did not find evidence that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the Committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”
Florida statewide prosecutor Nick Cox declined to comment on the allegations in the report. He referred CNN to state and local enforcement officials. CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state attorneys’ offices for comment.
By CNN
