Gaetz paid ‘tens of thousands’ for sex and drugs, ethics report says

Former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex and drugs while serving as a U.S. congressman, according to a long-awaited report from the House ethics committee.

It follows a years-long investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use by Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump wanted to be the nation’s top lawman.

The committee also found evidence that Gaetz, 42, received gifts that exceeded allowable amounts in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas.

The former lawmaker has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and claims to be the victim of a smear campaign. Amid the controversy, he withdrew from consideration to serve as U.S. attorney general.

The congressional ethics report found that “there is substantial evidence that Rep. Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, favors or privileges.” and obstruction of Congress.

From 2017 to 2020, Gaetz made payments totaling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 different women “who the Committee determined were likely related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” according to the report. .

Additionally, the report contains testimony that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party in 2017, giving her $400 “which she understood as payment for sex.” Gaetz has denied having sexual relations with a minor.

The Justice Department also investigated an allegation that he had sexual relations with a minor, but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.

In a last-minute court filing Monday, Gaetz requested a temporary restraining order to prevent the report’s release. He accused the ethics committee of attempting to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen.

The committee’s 42-page report accuses Gaetz of being “uncooperative” during its review and frequently “deflecting, dissuading or misleading” the panel “to prevent his actions from being exposed.”

Despite a subpoena, he never appeared before the committee to testify.

Gaetz represented Florida’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, having swept to power in the same 2016 election that propelled his ally Trump to the White House for the first time.

Gaetz married his current wife, Ginger, in 2021, who supported the former Florida congressman as he faced the allegations.

She posted an X-rated photo of her husband with the caption “unemployment never looked so good” after he withdrew his name to serve as attorney general after resigning from Congress.

gaetz He was believed to be beyond the committee’s reach when he resigned from Congress last month following his nomination by Trump to serve as U.S. attorney general, the top U.S. law enforcement official who heads the Justice Department.

Trump chose Gaetz in part because he is an ultra-loyalist who had also pledged to take on the “weaponized” legal system that his supporters believe was targeting Trump.

He has been one of Trump’s most strident defenders on Capitol Hill. But many Republicans in Congress, including those charged with voting on such nominations, were horrified by the choice and successfully challenged it.

Gaetz withdrew just eight days after being nominated by Trump amid a wave of controversy. Trump then chose former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his nominee for attorney general.

Trump has not yet commented on the report’s findings.

While it is unusual for the committee to release its findings after a lawmaker leaves public office, the report noted that a “majority” of members felt that doing so in this case was in the public interest.

An intense debate had broken out over whether or not the report should be released, particularly after Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for the Justice Department’s top job.

He said he hoped to avoid an “unnecessarily protracted skirmish in Washington.”

Gaetz’s intended role as attorney general was one that required confirmation by U.S. senators, and he did not appear to have the necessary support.

The secretive ethics committee had investigated Gaetz on and off since 2021, not only over the sex and drug allegations but also over allegations that he accepted bribes and misappropriated campaign funds. In each case, he strongly denied any wrongdoing.

House Republicans previously blocked Democratic efforts to reveal the report’s results, but two of them later voted to do so, according to CBS.

On Monday, Gaetz posted on that X that the committee decided to release the report around Christmas “and not in a courtroom of any kind where it could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”

Last week, he posted that the ethics committee planned to “publish a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or refute as a former member of the body.”

He acknowledged in a previous post on X that his 30s were an era of “working really hard and playing hard too.”

“It is shameful, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have done before in my life,” he wrote. “Now I live a different life.”

Several House Democrats criticized their former colleague and Trump for choosing him as an ally.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, one of five Democrats on the ethics committee, said the allegations against Gaetz show there is a pattern on Trump’s part of not “putting people in those positions who are really prepared to do the job.”

“President-elect Trump should have thought twice before nominating Matt Gaetz and I think some of the other nominations he has made would also merit reconsideration,” he told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

Since leaving Congress, Gaetz signed a deal to become an anchor for One America News Network (OAN). He will join the conservative news network in January.

It also started selling personalized video messages on the video platform Cameo.