The House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Matt Gaetz found “substantial evidence” that the former Florida representative had engaged in illicit drug use and sexual misconduct while in office. The evidence includes an allegation that he paid a 17-year-old for sex in 2017, according to a draft of the report obtained by CBS News and other outlets Monday ahead of its expected release.
The outlets reported that Gaetz—who filed a last-minute lawsuit Monday trying to block the Ethics results from being released—is accused in the report of having “violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” The 37-page report—which is said to include Venmo and PayPal receipts—also alleges that Gaetz paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women, “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” between 2017 and 2020.
One of the women who testified to having sex with Gaetz at a 2017 party was 17 at the time and had just finished her junior year in high school—though she reportedly did not inform him of her age, “nor did she ask,” according to the report. While the report notes that all women who testified said their encounters had been consensual, one woman told the committee that “when I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
Gaetz, who has denied allegations of wrongdoing, resigned from Congress last month after he was named Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general—two days before the Ethics committee was to hold a vote on releasing the results of its long-running investigation into his conduct. But he withdrew from consideration soon after, writing that the sexual misconduct allegations surrounding him—and that likely doomed his confirmation—had become a “distraction.”
“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle,” Gaetz said in a statement at the time.
Until now, Gaetz seemed, briefly, to be in the clear: The committee voted against releasing its results in late November, and the Republican was hired to host a program on the pro-Trump One America News Network. But then, last week, it was reported that the Ethics panel had “secretly voted” in December to make the report public. In response, Gaetz said at the time that he “probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. However, he once again denied the statutory rape allegation, pointing to a Justice Department recommendation not to bring charges against him in its own sex trafficking inquiry. “I live a different life now,” he said.