Matt Gaetz Ethics Committee Report Released: What to Know

What’s new

A congressional ethics report on former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz is expected to be released Monday.

The House Ethics Committee’s report has been obtained by CBS News and the website Just the News. The report, which has not been seen by Newsweekis said to conclude that there is “substantial evidence” that Gaetz paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old — for sex and purchased and used illegal drugs, in violation of several state laws. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.

Newsweek has reached out to a spokesman for Gaetz for comment via email outside regular business hours.

Why it matters

The report is expected to shed new light on allegations that Gaetz, who President-elect Donald Trump briefly tapped to lead the Justice Department, has long denied. The allegations of wrongdoing are likely to further hinder Gaetz’s future political career amid talks about a potential run for the Senate or Florida governor.

What to know

Gaetz resigned from Congress after being tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as the next attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew his name from consideration, citing the “unfair distraction” caused by calls for the House Ethics Committee to release its report.

The panel voted to release its report on Gaetz earlier in December. The investigation looked into allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, illegal drug use, sharing inappropriate photos or videos on the floor of the house and receiving bribes and inappropriate gifts.

The 37-page report is expected to allege that Gaetz paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and used drugs in his Capitol Hill office, according to CBS News.

“The committee determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, illegal gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report says, according to CBS News.

However, the report says there is insufficient evidence to suggest Gaetz violated federal sex-trafficking laws previously investigated by the Justice Department. No charges were filed against Gaetz for allegations that he allegedly had sex with a minor and paid her to travel with him across state lines. Gaetz has denied all the charges.

It says that while Gaetz transported women across state lines for sex, they were 18 or older at the time.

Witnesses cited by the report said they saw Gaetz taking ecstasy during a 2018 trip to the Bahamas. Gaetz was a sitting member of Congress at the time. The report also alleges that Gaetz “intentionally withheld information” from the panel about taking a free private flight back from the Caribbean island.

“Even if Representative Gaetz’s obstructive behavior in this investigation did not rise to the level of a criminal violation, it certainly did not conform to the requirement that members act in a manner that reflects creditably on the House,” the report said, via Just the News.

The report alleges that Gaetz paid over $90,000 to 12 women between 2017 and 2020, with the payments “likely related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” according to CBS News.

One of those women was a 17-year-old girl, identified in the report as Victim A, who allegedly had sex with Gaetz at a house party in 2017.

“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the report states. “Victim A stated that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”

In his written response, Gaetz described the payments as someone “trying to recategorize my generosity toward ex-boyfriends as something more unreasonable.”

The report also alleges that Gaetz used a fake email account from his Capitol Hill office to purchase marijuana. Gaetz denied using illegal drugs in his written responses to the panel.

The House Ethics Committee has previously released reports on members of Congress after they left office, but such cases have been rare.

What people say

Matt Gaetz denied the bulk of the allegations in a statement on December 18: “The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. I was charged with nothing: COMPLETE FRAGMENT. In my single days I often sent money to women I dated – even some I had never dated , but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I have NEVER had sexual contact with anyone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court – and that’s why such a claim was never made in court My 30s were an era of hard work – and it’s also embarrassing, but not criminal, that I probably partied, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life life now.”

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, a Republican who voted against the report’s release, said in a dissenting statement: “Representative Gaetz resigned from Congress, withdrew from consideration to serve in the next administration, and stated that he would not seek a seat in the 119th Congress. The decision to release a report after his resignation breaks with the committee’s longstanding practice , opens the committee to undue criticism and will be perceived by some as an attempt to weaponize the committee’s process.”

Democratic Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee, a former member of the Ethics Committee, praised the report’s upcoming release in a statement: “This is some of the most serious misconduct the committee has ever dealt with. The public needs this report.”

Darren Beattie, who was a White House speechwriter in the first Trump administration, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “The witch hunt against Gaetz is pathetic but instructive. The more effective you are on behalf of Trump’s America First agenda, the harder the corrupt regime attacks you.”

What’s next

The report on Gaetz could be released as soon as Monday.

Gaetz, who will host his own show on One America News Network starting in January, has too implied by running for Marco Rubio’s vacated Florida Senate seat.