The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of paying for sex “on a regular basis,” including with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illegal drugs as a member of Congress.
The 37-page report from the bipartisan commission includes graphic details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, participated in from 2017 to 2020 while he represented the West Florida district.
Congressional investigators concluded that Gaetz violated several state sexual misconduct laws while in office, but not federal sex trafficking laws. They also found that Gaetz “knowingly and intentionally sought to obstruct and obstruct” the committee’s work.
“The committee determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated the House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, rape, illegal drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report said.
A report by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz violated “House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, impermissible gifts, special services or privileges, and obstruction of business.” Congress.” Reports from CBS and CNN, who say they have obtained the final draft of the investigation report.
Before the report was published, Gaetz denied any wrongdoing and criticized the committee’s procedures.
“Giving money to someone you’re dating – who didn’t ask for it – and not being ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” He posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “There’s a reason they did this to me in a report on Christmas Eve and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”
Lawmakers paint a damning picture of Gaetz’s behavior, using dozens of pages of exhibits, including text messages, financial records, travel receipts, checks and online payments, to document a lifestyle filled with partying and drugs. The committee said it collected evidence after issuing 29 subpoenas for documents and testimonies and contacting more than twenty witnesses.
In addition to soliciting prostitution, the Ethics Commission report states that Gaetz “accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.”
That same year, investigators say, Gaetz arranged for his chief of staff to obtain a passport for a woman with whom he had been sexually involved, and falsely told the State Department that she was a constituent of his.
The commission says the texts show Gaetz inviting women to events
In some of the text messages exchanged, Gaetz appears to invite multiple women to events, vacations or parties, and arranges airfare and lodging. At one point, he asked one of the women if she had a “nice black dress” to wear. There are also discussions about shipping goods.
One exhibit is a text exchange that appears to have taken place between two of the women involved regarding cash flow and payments. In another case, a person asks Gates for help paying for educational expenses.
Former US Congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from his nomination to be Attorney General for President-elect Donald Trump, saying his confirmation has become a distraction.
In a last-ditch effort to stop the report’s publication, Gaetz filed a lawsuit on Monday asking the court to intervene, citing what he called “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly harm” his standing and reputation in the community. Gaetz’s complaint says he has no longer been subject to the committee’s authority since his resignation from Congress.
“The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over which it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congress’ power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and well-established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraint. to request.
Claims investigation since 2021
The bipartisan, often secretive commission has investigated the allegations against Gaetz since 2021. But its work took on more urgency last month when Trump selected him shortly after Election Day as his first choice to be the nation’s top law enforcement official. Gaetz resigned from Congress the same day, putting him outside the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee.
But Democrats pushed to release the report even after Gaetz was no longer a member and withdrew as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote in the House of Representatives failed this month to force publication of the report; All but one Republican voted against it.
The report concludes a nearly five-year investigation into the Gaetz case. The release of the report comes after at least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the committee earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report on their former colleague despite initial opposition from Republican lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing the findings regarding… With a former member. From Congress.
Earlier, CNN, which said it obtained a copy of the report before its publication, said the committee investigated transactions Gaetz made personally, often using PayPal or Venmo, for more than a dozen women during his time in Congress.
The report found that Gaetz paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women, payments that the ethics committee determined were likely related to sexual activity and drug use, CBS reported. Which also said it had obtained a copy of the report before its release.
She had sex twice with a 17-year-old, the committee heard
CBS reported that the Ethics Committee received testimony that Gaetz had sex twice with a 17-year-old girl, described in the report as “Victim A,” at a 2017 party.
“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Deputy Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” CBS quoted the report as saying. “Victim A stated that she did not inform Deputy Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her her age.”
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The Ethics Committee said there was insufficient evidence that the three-term congressman violated federal sex trafficking law, CBS reported.
All of the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual, according to CBS.
However, one woman told the committee that drug use at parties and events they attended may have “impaired their ability to know or fully consent to what was really going on.”
Another woman told the committee: “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
The report found that Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, rape and drug use, CBS reported.
CBS reported that it also found “strong evidence” that Gaetz was involved in illegal drug use. CBS added that it accused him of accepting luxury travel gifts beyond the permissible limits during a 2018 trip to the Bahamas.
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