A recently published House Ethics Committee report has brought back into the public eye former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, with disturbing findings about his conduct during his time in Congress. The investigation reveals “substantial evidence” that Gaetz engaged in illegal activities, including paying for sex with a minor, using illicit drugs, and violating multiple House rules.
The revelations are a continuation of a series of allegations that have plagued the once-promising political career of Gaetz.
Key Findings In Ethics Committee Report
The House Ethics Committee undertook an exhaustive inquiry into Gaetz’s actions, which included interviews, subpoenas, and a review of documents. At the end of months of inquiry, the committee resolved that Gaetz’s acts were contrary to several federal and state laws, in addition to House rules.
The report published on December 23, 2024 showed that Gaetz had:
- Paid women for sex at least between 2017 and 2020 regularly.
- Had sex with a 17-year-old girl in 2017.
- Knowingly used or possessed cocaine, a controlled substance, on more than one occasion between 2017 and 2019.
- Accepted lodging and other things of value aggregating more than the permissible amounts during a Bahamas trip in 2018.
- Coerced a woman whom he had intercourse with into using his chief of staff to get her a passport under false pretenses that she was his constituent.
The committee further revealed that Gaetz had paid over $90,000 to at least a dozen women for sexual services. It was revealed that one of the payments had been to a high school junior at the time. Even though the women testified that the encounters were consensual, the committee revealed that the drug use might have compromised their judgment and decision-making.
Gaetz Tried To Sabotage Investigation?
Throughout the investigation, Gaetz allegedly attempted to derail the process by refusing to be interviewed and failing to provide evidence to clear his name. Despite his denial of the allegations, the Ethics Committee found sufficient evidence to support the claims against him.
Gaetz, however, has been resolute in his defense, labeling the allegations “smears” from his political opponents. He said he was “fully exonerated” by the Department of Justice after a federal investigation into sex trafficking claims in 2021 and described his actions as embarrassing but not criminal.
Federal Sex Trafficking Allegations Not Substantiated
Though it has brought out many misconduct, there has been no evidence found on the federal sex trafficking, and so the committee said in the report. According to the report, although Gaetz did facilitate the transportation of women across state lines for commercial sex, the committee found no evidence that any of the women were under the age of 18 or that the acts were induced by force or coercion.
The committee said, “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 report has not only caused a storm in the political circles but also sparked a debate over the Ethics Committee’s decision to make the findings public after Gaetz resigned from Congress in November 2024. Several committee members expressed disagreement with the decision to release the report, arguing that it went against the committee’s long-standing practice of not publishing reports on former members. They also expressed their concerns that the committee’s process may be politicized.
One of the dissenting opinions from Ethics Committee members reads, “The decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the Committee’s long-standing practice, opens the Committee to undue criticism, and will be viewed by some as an attempt to weaponize the Committee’s process.
Gaetz has sued the committee in federal court, claiming that releasing the report after his resignation will cause him irreparable damage to his reputation.
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