House Ethics Report: Matt Gaetz files unsuccessful last-ditch lawsuit to stop release

Washington
CNN
—

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a lawsuit Monday asking a federal judge to block the official release of a long-awaited House Ethics Committee report into his potential wrongdoing while in office.

Gaetz filed the lawsuit around the same time CNN and other outlets reported a draft of the report’s findings about his alleged sexual misconduct and drug use. Within hours of the lawsuit being filed, the committee officially published the report on its website, essentially mooting his lawsuit.

IN the trialwhich was filed in Washington, DC, against the Republican-led committee and its chairman, Gaetz claimed that the release of the report would cause “immediate, severe and irreversible” damage to his reputation, in part because “the media coverage would be immediate and widespread .” He also claimed he was not notified of the panel’s plans to release the report, nor was he given copies of the material.

“As such, Plaintiff has not been afforded an opportunity to respond to any report or investigative findings,” the lawsuit states.

Gaetz’s lawyers said he has “frequently and vehemently professed his innocence of the alleged wrongdoing” and had asked the committee to “discontinue their investigation and afford him appropriate due process rights.” He said the Republican-controlled panel has been “unresponsive” to those demands.

The federal judge assigned to the case, Amit Mehta, ordered Gaetz to explain by 1 p.m. 5 p.m. ET, why the case should not be dismissed because it “appears to be moot” in light of the committee’s official release of the report.

CNN has reached out to Gaetz’s lawyers about the report. The House Ethics Committee declined to comment on the case.

In a post on X after filing the lawsuit, Gaetz said, “they did this to me in a Christmas Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” He further said that “giving money to someone you date” is not prostitution, citing testimony from a woman who said she did not accuse him of sex.

The lawsuit claims the committee’s own rules say it does not have the authority to publicly release a report on a private citizen.

“The committee’s apparent intent to release its report after expressly acknowledging that it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to adhere to constitutional notions of due process, and its failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedents represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” the lawsuit states.

The House Ethics Committee voted to release the report last week — a rare move since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.

The committee found that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, and said Gaetz may have violated state laws prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape , illegal drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.

He added that he was never officially notified of the committee’s intention to publish the report, nor given a copy, therefore he was never “given the opportunity to respond” to its conclusions.

The lawsuit also points out that the Justice Department investigated Gaetz for similar reasons and declined to charge him — a defense the former congressman has repeatedly invoked.

However, the report only alleges that Gaetz may have broken state laws.

Gaetz also denies using campaign funds for personal expenses and said in his lawsuit that the Federal Election Commission investigated the allegations and found “no reason to believe” they were true. In addition, he states that the claim that he “may have participated in illegal drug use” is false, as is the claim that he was given fake IDs.