Matt Gaetz sued the House Ethics Committee in a last-ditch attempt to block the publication of a damning report into allegations he paid for sex with more than a dozen women, including a 17-year-old girl.
The report follows a long-running investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use while he was a member of Congress, when he allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex- and drug-fueled parties and travel.
He is accused of paying more than $90,000 to at least 12 different women, including a high school student, according to the report, which was released Monday, after Gaetz filed his lawsuit.
In the federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., the Republican from Florida accused the committee of making an “unconstitutional” attempt to “exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen” by releasing a report “containing potentially defamatory allegations.”
He asked for a judge to issue an emergency order to block the report’s release after drafts had already been published in several news outlets Monday morning.
The man Donald Trump initially tapped to be the next attorney general of the United States was then notified by a court clerk that he filed the complaint incorrectly.
Publishing the report would mark an “unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” attorneys for the former congressman wrote.
The committee’s release of “reports and/or investigatory information” about Gaetz includes “untruthful and defamatory information concerning Plaintiff, which, if publicly released, would significantly damage Plaintiff ’s standing and reputation in the community,” attorneys wrote.
“Once released, the damage to Plaintiff’s reputation and professional standing would be immediate, severe and irreversible,” they argued.
They warned that the findings would appear to have the endorsement of Congress, media coverage would be “immediate and widespread,” allegations would “permanently remain in the public record,” no “adequate remedy” exists to retract them, and government legal protections would likely prevent him from seeking subsequent damages.
The committee did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
Once the report was published without any action from the courts, Gaetz’s attorneys said their request for a restraining order was moot, and that Gaetz has “now suffered irreversible and irreparable harm.”
Last month, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson argued that the committee no longer has jurisdiction over the now-former congressman — who abruptly resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him for U.S. attorney general, a nod that Gaetz later abandoned after scrutiny into allegations against him.
There is precedent for releasing such a report after a lawmaker leaves office. In 1987, former congressman Bill Boner was the subject of an ethics report two months after leaving office. The committee also released a report into former congressman Buz Lukens the same day he left office in 1990.
