Matt Gaetz Paid Thousands For Drugs And Sex, House Ethics Report Shows

LOADING ERROR LOADING Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was found by a House Ethics Committee probe to have paid a 17-year-old for sex and consumed illegal drugs while in office. Gaetz, the sex-scandal-plagued Republican who recently dropped out as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, violated several state laws relating to sexual misconduct while in office, according to the committee’s report published Monday. The investigators found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct “prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” The panel listed over $90,000 in payments to 12 women — including a 17-year-old — that the committee “determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” The report found that Gaetz allegedly twice had sex with the 17-year-old, described as “Victim A,” at a 2017 party. But one woman told investigators, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.” The panel wrote that it did not find Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, writing that “although Representative Gaetz did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex, the Committee did not find evidence that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the Committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.” The committee claimed to have seen texts in which Gaetz made references to drugs as “party favors,” “vitamins,” or “rolls,” and the report also accused him of setting up a fake email account from his Capitol Hill office “for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.” Details of the report come days after media stories emerged that the committee held a secret vote to reverse course and make its report public on the accusations of sex trafficking, illicit drug use and other misconduct by Gaetz, who denies all the allegations. “The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” he told reporters.