UPDATE: The House Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz, accusing the former congressman of paying multiple women for sex and of possessing or using illegal drugs.
The report also accused Gaetz of engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. It also cliams that he accepted gifts in excess of permissible amounts.
The committee concluded that “there was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
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The committee concluded that “there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. The Committee received credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation. Several of those witnesses have also testified
under oath before a federal grand jury and in a civil litigation. Representative Gaetz denied the allegation but refused to testify under oath.” The committee said that they received evidence that Gaetz “did not learn that Victim A was 17 years old until more than a month after their first sexual encounters. However, statutory rape is a strict liability crime. After he learned that Victim A was a minor, he maintained contact and less than 6 months after she turned 18, he met up with her again for commercial sex.”
Earlier today, Gaetz sought to block the release of the report, claiming that because he was no longer in Congress, the committee was acting outside its jurisdiction.
In the report, the committee noted that it has “typically not released its findings after losing jurisdiction in a matter. However, there are a few prior instances where the Committee has determined that it was in the
public interest to release its findings even after a Member’s resignation from Congress. The Committee does not do so lightly. In this instance, although severalCommittee Members objected, a majority of the Members of the Committee agreed that the Committee’s findings should be released to the public.”
The report also claims Gaetz sought to obstruct the House investigation, noting that he “routinely ignored or significantly delayed producing relevant information requested by the Committee.” The committee also found that he used “the power of his office” to assist a woman with whom he was having a sexual relationship obtain an expedited passport.
“The woman was not his constituent, and the case was not handled in the same manner as similar passport assistance cases,” the report stated.
Gaetz has denied the allegations, and challenged the report’s claim that his payments to women amounted to prostitution.
He wrote, “Giving funds to someone you are dating – that they didn’t ask for – and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!? There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”
The report did note that a few of the women characterized their relationship as a “date-for-hire” arrangement, that may not violate Florida prostitution laws. But the committee concluded that it “found evidence that Representative Gaetz spent tens of thousands of dollars on other women with whom he had a shared understanding that they would be compensated for sexual activity with him.”
He withdrew as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general amid opposition from Senate Republicans. He has since signed to host a nightly show for One America News Network, starting next month.
Although Gaetz resigned his seat for the current Congress, he was reelected for the next, set to be sworn in on Jan. 3.
Last week, Gaetz suggested that he could be sworn in on Jan. 3 and then file a resolution “to expose every “me too” settlement paid using public funds (even of former members).” He would then resign to take his OANN gig.
The Ethics Committee not only released the report, but its investigative material, including a trove of text messages and Venmo records of payments.
PREVIOUSLY: Matt Gaetz, the former congressman and future One America News host, is seeking to block the House Ethics Committee’s release of a report that details his alleged conduct, including drug use and having sex with minors.
CBS News was the first to report on the Ethics Committee report, expected to be released as soon as today, including that Gaetz paid for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and purchased and used drugs.
“The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report stated, according to the network.
Gaetz was President-elect Donald Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general. But the Florida congressman dropped out about a week later in the face of GOP Senate opposition and calls for the bipartisan Ethics Committee to release the report.
Gaetz, who was re-elected to another term in November, has since announced that he will host a nightly show for One America News Network next month.
Gaetz filed suit against the committee this morning, claiming that its release was outside its jurisdiction because he is now a private citizen.
“The Committee’s apparent intention to release its report after explicitly acknowledging it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to follow constitutional notions of due process, and failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedent represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s attorneys wrote in the filing.
In the filing, Gaetz denies the allegations.
His attorneys wrote, “Once released, the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation and professional standing would be immediate, severe and irreversible, particularly because: a. The Committee’s findings would carry the imprimatur of official Congressional action; b. Media coverage would be immediate and widespread; c. The allegations would permanently remain in the public record.”
According to CBS News, the report claims that Gaetz paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women. The committee concluded that the payments “were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.”
“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the committee wrote, per CBS News. “Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”