Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said he will stop voluntarily cooperating with an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into the possibility that he had sexual relationships with minors in parties that involved drug use.
In a lengthy letter posted on his X account, Gaetz said the investigation only seeks to smear him and remove him from his post. "Your correspondence of September 4 asks whether I have engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18. The answer to this question is unequivocally NO. You can apply this response to every version of this question, in every forum," reads a passage of the letter. He also denies using illegal drugs.
Gaetz also claims that the investigation is politically motivated because the Biden administration "loathes" his activity in the House Judiciary Committee: "I ask the most penetrating questions of their top officials, frequently embarrassing them publicly," he said, before claiming that the investigation is "uncomfortably nosey" for also asking whether he had sexual intercourse with adult women over the past seven years.
My final response to the Ethics Committee: pic.twitter.com/iCBR3fyB6D
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 26, 2024
"The lawful, consensual, sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress. Neither is a detailing of medication I have taken under the color of law. This question about my sexual history reveals a sinister motive of the Committee to harm me and those who have had any association with me," says Gaetz before refusing to cooperate voluntarily in the future.
"I understand that the Committee has issued, but not served, a subpoena for my testimony. I explicitly reserve all of my rights pursuant to House Rules and the U.S. Constitution," the letter ends.
Gaetz's letter comes a few days after court filings showing him attending a "drug-fueled" sex party in 2017 with a 17-year-old girl at the center of an alleged sex trafficking scandal.
The documents include sealed affidavits from three eyewitness testimonies that cite a party hosted at the home of lobbyist Chris Dorworth, a friend of Gaetz. One witness described the girl, a high school junior, as naked and said people were there to "engage in sexual activities" while drugs including cocaine and ecstasy were present.
The court filings were written by defense attorneys who interviewed witnesses as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit Dorworth brought in 2023, according to Notus. The lobbyist ultimately dropped the lawsuit, but his attorneys filed the documents in federal court to try and recoup legal fees.
Gaetz's own ex-girlfriend— who was present at the party— provided testimony that lawyers say rebuts Dorworth's claims that he was not here, according to the news organization.
Gaetz has previously denied engaging sex trafficking or having sex with a minor, and a DOJ investigation from 2023 ended without charges being brought against the Representative.
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