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The House Ethics Committee released the report Monday from its investigation into alleged misconduct by former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
The Committee confessed that it rarely releases reports on former members of Congress, but in this case they chose to do so because of all the public interest in the allegations. Thus, the majority of the Committee members voted to release the report despite Gaetz having resigned from Congress. [He is slated to have a show on OANN in January.]
The Committee said in the 42-page report that it found “substantial evidence” of the following:
From at least 2017 to 2020, Rep. Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him. [The kids call this prostitution.]
In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. [He originally claimed when he learned her age, he stopped mid-grope.]
During the period 2017 to 2019, Rep. Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
Rep. Gaetz accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.
In 2018, Rep. Gaetz arranged for his Chief of Staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.
Rep. Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.
Rep. Gaetz has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House.
The Committee said that based on its findings, they conclude that there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
The Committee noted that they did not find enough evidence to decide that Gaetz had violated federal sex trafficking laws. This was something that federal prosecutors investigated him for in a separate criminal investigation.
The Committee said that Gaetz was “uncooperative” throughout its investigation and did not appear for an interview after they subpoenaed him.
“The Committee then sent Representative Gaetz a set of written questions, to which he issued a public response that ignored most of the direct questions about his misconduct and mischaracterized the Committee’s investigation and his participation up to that point,” the Committee said.
The Committee noted that they did not find enough evidence to decide that Gaetz had violated federal sex trafficking laws. This was something that federal prosecutors investigated him for in a separate criminal investigation.
The Committee said that Gaetz was “uncooperative” throughout its investigation and did not appear for an interview after they subpoenaed him.
“The Committee then sent Representative Gaetz a set of written questions, to which he issued a public response that ignored most of the direct questions about his misconduct and mischaracterized the Committee’s investigation and his participation up to that point,” the Committee said.
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