Dec. 23 (UPI) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday released its report into Matt Gaetz that found “substantial evidence” that he paid women for sex and engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
The 37-page report stated that Gaetz, a former Republican U.S. Congressman representing Florida, violated House rules and state law in Florida that prohibits prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, gifts, special favors or privileges in addition to obstruction of Congress.
The report lists payments to 12 different women totaling more than $90,000.
“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report noted.
The committee added that Gaetz refused to answer questions about payments to women, despite saying publicly that his “generosity to ex-girlfriends” had been misconstrued and declaring that he “never, ever paid for sex.”
It also found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz violated Florida’s statutory rape law by having sex with a 17-year-old girl in July 2017 when he was 35.
The committee said it received “credible testimony” from the victim and “multiple individuals corroborating the allegation” that led it to find Gaetz’ claims that the victim “doesn’t exist” and that he had not “had sex with a 17-year-old since I was 17” were untrue.
Among the number of accusations, the Ethics committee report said text messages by Gaetz refer to drugs in different form like “party favors,” “rolls” for possibly smoking marijuana or “vitamins” and created a fake email address from his congressional office in Washington to purchase marijuana.
This House Ethics Committee voted in secret earlier this month to release its findings into the conduct of Gaetz after it first decided to keep it under wraps.
Gaetz, who has publicly denied the allegations included in the report, said filed a civil lawsuit Monday in a Washington federal court in a failed last-ditch effort to block the report’s release.
The suit named the Ethics Committee and Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., the committee chair, as its defendants claiming Gaetz wasn’t notified nor provided with relevant information.
“These claims would be destroyed in court,” Gaetz told The Hill on Monday. “Which is why they were never made in any court against me,” he added.
He further claimed the Ethics panel is acting beyond its legal scope with Gaetz no longer a member of the House chamber, claiming the “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his reputation.
However, Gaetz did defend himself last week on social media.
“My 30s were an era of working very hard — and playing hard too,” the former Florida representative wrote. “It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” he added.
Gaetz abruptly resigned his seat in Congress last month right after his nomination to lead the U.S. Justice Department. He initially was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be his first pick for U.S. attorney general. Gaetz was under an active investigation for roughly three years by the House Ethics Committee for the series of alleged crimes.
This was after the U.S. Justice Department declined to prosecute Gaetz on separate but related charges.