The House Ethics Committee has released a final draft of its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, detailing allegations of misconduct during his time in Congress. The report alleges that Gaetz paid women for sex or drugs on multiple occasions, including a 17-year-old girl in 2017.
The committee found evidence that Gaetz violated Florida state laws, including statutory rape laws, and House Rules prohibiting various forms of misconduct. Transactions made by Gaetz, often through platforms like PayPal and Venmo, to more than a dozen women were investigated.
The report also highlighted a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with multiple women, some of whom were paid for sex. The committee concluded that Gaetz violated House gift rules during this trip.
Despite denying any wrongdoing, Gaetz's interactions with women, facilitated by his friend Joel Greenberg, were extensively documented in the report. The committee spoke to witnesses who confirmed that women were paid for sex by Gaetz and Greenberg.
One particularly concerning incident involved a 17-year-old girl who stated she had sex with Gaetz at a party in 2017. The report detailed how she received cash from Gaetz, believed to be payment for sex, while under the influence of drugs.
The report also mentioned Gaetz's alleged drug use, including cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana, on multiple occasions. It highlighted instances where Gaetz set up an email account to purchase marijuana and accepted gifts exceeding permissible amounts during a trip to the Bahamas.
Furthermore, the report detailed how Gaetz assisted a woman he had a sexual encounter with in obtaining a new passport, raising additional ethical concerns.
While Gaetz has denied the allegations and emphasized that the Justice Department did not bring charges against him, the Ethics Committee's findings paint a troubling picture of his conduct while in office.
The release of this report marks a significant development in the ongoing scrutiny of Gaetz's actions and could have lasting implications for his political career.
