House Ethics report expected to say panel found ‘substantial evidence’ Gaetz violated Florida’s statutory rape law

The bipartisan House Ethics Committee is expected to expand on stinging allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, writing in a draft report obtained by ABC News that the committee found “substantial evidence” that he had sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law and engaged in a broader pattern of paying women for sex.

The draft committee report also revealed evidence of illegal drug use, acceptance of inappropriate gifts, granting of special favors to personal staff and obstruction after Gaetz refused to comply with subpoenas and withheld evidence from the committee.

One woman testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her in 2017, when she was 17 and had just finished her junior year of high school. The woman, identified only as “Victim A” in the draft report, told investigators she received $400 in cash from the then-congressman that evening, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report.

Gaetz filed a lawsuit Monday against the Ethics Committee in an attempt to prevent the committee from releasing its report.

“This action challenges the committee’s unconstitutional and ultra vires attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” Gaetz’s suit says.

In the suit, Gaetz is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block the release of the report or any findings, which he says would cause “damage to (his reputation and professional standing)” that would be “immediate and severe .”

“The threatened release of information believed to be defamatory by a congressional committee on matters of sexual decency and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied by monetary damages,” the suit states.

Gaetz’s lawsuit highlights that he is now a public citizen and claims he did not receive “proper notice” of the report’s impending release.

“After Plaintiff’s resignation from Congress, Defendant improperly continued to act on his investigation and apparently voted to publicly release reports and/or investigative materials related to Plaintiff without proper notice or disclosure to Plaintiff,” the complaint states.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. After indications last week that the committee would release its report, Gaetz took to X in a lengthy post, writing in part that when he was single, he “frequently sent money to women,” he dated, and that he ” never had sexual contact with anyone under 18.”

“It’s embarrassing, but not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now,” he wrote. “I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics is reportedly going to put a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or refute as a former member of the body.”

The Justice Department declined to charge him last year after a yearlong investigation into similar allegations.

President-elect Donald Trump last month tapped Gaetz to serve as attorney general in the incoming administration, and Gaetz resigned his congressional seat shortly after. But Gaetz subsequently withdrew his name from consideration, saying his confirmation process was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition.”

The ethics committee was in the final stages of its investigation into Gaetz when Trump tapped him to become attorney general. The panel generally drops investigations of members if they leave office, but Gaetz’s resignation sparked heated debate on Capitol Hill over whether the panel should release its report to allow the Senate to carry out its role of vetting presidential nominees.

The committee initially voted against releasing the report before reversing course, sources said.