The House Ethics Committee accused former Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s former pick for attorney general, of regularly paying for sex, possessing illegal drugs and having sexual relations with an underage girl, according to a draft of the panel’s report.
The report, which was released on Monday, found that from at least 2017 to 2020, Mr. Gaetz “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him”; and, in 2017, “engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl,” the report said.
The Ethics Committee found that from 2017 to 2019, Mr. Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy “on multiple occasions,” and accepted lavish gifts, including transportation to and lodging in the Bahamas, in excessive of permissible amounts.
“Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House,” the report stated.
The Ethics Committee concluded that Mr. Gaetz violated state sexual misconduct laws, including Florida’s statutory rape law, and violated House rules concerning gifts and misuse of his official office.
However, the committee said it did not find conclusive evidence that Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws.
“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,” the panel wrote.
But the release of panel’s findings did not come without significant internal strife among the Ethics Committee’s members. The report makes clear the committee’s Republican chairman objected to its release.
“We believe and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Mr. Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024,” Representative Michael Guest, Republican of Mississippi, wrote. “While we do not challenge the Committee’s findings, we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006.”
The report’s release came after a tumultuous month for Mr. Gaetz. In November, Mr. Trump announced he had chosen the Florida congressman to lead the Justice Department, prompting anger and concern among members of both parties on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Gaetz resigned from Congress on the day he was tapped to lead the Justice Department, but the news soon leaked that the secretive House Ethics Committee was poised to release its long-awaited investigation into Mr. Gaetz’s conduct. As Senate opposition rose against his nomination, Mr. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general.
He is now set to join the conservative One America News Network as an anchor in January.
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