Members of the House Ethics Committee released a report Monday on now-former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, contending that he paid for sex with a minor and committed other ethics violations, some of which allegedly rise to the level of criminal activity.
The report asserted that Gaetz “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him” between 2017 and 2020, including an incident during which he “engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.”
He also allegedly “used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy,” on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019.
The now-former representative reportedly “accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.”
The committee further alleged that Gaetz “arranged for his Chief of Staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.”
The report claimed the now-former representative “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct,” while acting “in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House.”
President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Gaetz for the position of U.S. attorney general shortly after his November victory.
However, Gaetz withdrew from that process and resigned his House seat last month.
Ethics reports are not usually released for former members of the House, a fact which the House Ethics Committee acknowledged.
Will Matt Gaetz eventually return to public office?
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“The Committee has typically not released its findings after losing jurisdiction in a matter,” the report said.
“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 document continued. “The Committee does not do so lightly.”
The decision to publish the report came after Gaetz filed a lawsuit on Monday asking a federal judge to block the release of the document, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Gaetz denies all wrongdoing and “in his suit said making the report public would run afoul of the committee’s internal rules to stop investigating House lawmakers once they leave Congress, violating his constitutional due process rights,” per the Journal.
Gaetz meanwhile sued for defamation and requested a temporary restraining order to stop the release of the document during the court process.
The ethics report concluded “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.”
Among other statutes Gaetz allegedly violated, the report noted that “it is a felony for a person 24 years of age or older to engage in sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old” under statutory rape law in Florida.
Those charged with the offense “may not claim ignorance or misrepresentation of the minor’s age as a defense,” per the report.
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