Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who briefly ran to become President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl – for sex and purchasing and using illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to the final version of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.
Those were among the findings of the House Ethics Committee’s long-running investigation into Gaetz, which concluded that the former Florida congressman violated several state laws related to misconduct sexual during his mandate.
“The Committee has determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated the House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, unauthorized gifts, favors or special privileges and obstruction of Congress,” the 37-page report concludes.
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Gaetz resigned from Congress in November after Trump plans announced to appoint him attorney general. But faced with opposition from certain fellow Republicans, Gaetz withdrew of the exam a week later. THE publication of the ethics reportexpected Monday, ends — at least for now — Gaetz’s incendiary tenure on Capitol Hill, where he became one of the most vocal and provocative members of the pro-Trump faction in Congress.
Gaetz has denied any inappropriate conduct and said the claims were a “smear” concocted by his political enemies. The committee said the congressman refused to appear for sworn testimony, although he submitted written responses to some of the committee’s questions.
The report gives new voice to allegations of misconduct that have swirled around Gaetz for years, despite his strong denials. It relies on testimony from witnesses who told the committee they were paid to have sex with Gaetz, text messages discussing the transactions, and Venmo and PayPal receipts.
Among the report’s most lurid findings were allegations of sex and drug-fueled parties and trips, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where witnesses say he took ecstasy and had sex with four women.
“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women who the Committee determined were likely related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” notes the report, which lists payments totaling more than $90,000 to 12 different. women.
The committee said it also received testimony that at a party in 2017, Gaetz had sex on two occasions with “victim A.” who was 17 at the time and had just finished his freshman year of high school.
“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the committee wrote. “Victim A stated that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her her age.”
In his written responses to the committee, Gaetz denied having sex with a minor. The Ministry of Justice already investigated Gaetz for violating sex trafficking laws, but did not press charges. The committee said it did not find sufficient evidence that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking law because although he transported women across state lines for sexual purposes, those The women were all 18 or older at the time.
The report notes that while all of the women who testified said sex with Gaetz was consensual, one woman told the committee that drug use at parties and events they attended may have “impaired[ed their] ability to truly know what was happening or to fully consent to it. »
Another woman told the committee: “When I think about certain moments, I feel violated. »
The report found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz engaged in rampant use of illicit drugs. The committee said it obtained text messages he sent in which he referred to the drugs as “party favors”, “buns” or “vitamins”. He also said he created a fake email from his Capitol Hill office “for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.” The report said Gaetz denied using illegal drugs in his written responses to the committee.
In addition to sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, the report also accuses Gaetz of accepting luxury travel gifts beyond permitted limits during the 2018 trip to the Bahamas. And he said he had his chief of staff help a woman he had sex with obtain a passport, falsely telling the State Department that she was one of his constituents.
Gaetz told conservative personality Charlie Kirk last month that he planned to spend the coming years “fighting for President Trump.”
“I think eight years is probably enough in the United States Congress,” Gaetz said, although last week he floated the idea of come back to participate in the election of the President of the House.
The House Ethics Committee had originally voted keep the report secret, but reverse course in a secret vote earlier this month. Two Republican members of the commission were among those who voted to release him, according to two sources familiar with the vote. The committee has 10 members, split equally between Republicans and Democrats.
