The US House Ethics Committee found evidence that former Representative, Matt 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, according to the panel's report on the Florida Republican released Monday, December 23.
The committee concluded in its bombshell document that Gaetz violated Florida state laws, including the state's statutory rape law, as the GOP-led panel chose to release a report about a former member who resigned from Congress.
"The Committee determined there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress," panel investigators wrote.
The panel investigated transactions Gaetz personally made, often using PayPal or Venmo, to more than a dozen women during his time in Congress, according to the report. Investigators also focused on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas which they said "violated the House gift rule" - during which he "engaged in sexual activity" with multiple women, including one who described the trip itself as "the payment" for sex on the trip.
On the same trip, he also took ecstasy drugs, one woman on the trip told the committee.
Earlier this month, the US House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release its report after initially voting against doing so. The vote to put out the report - which was opposed by panel Chairman Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican was the culmination of a years-long probe into allegations surrounding Gaetz.
Gaetz was US President-elect Donald Trump's first pick to be attorney general but dropped out amid opposition from GOP senators who didn't want a stain on the Trump presidency.
Gaetz filed a civil complaint in federal court Monday morning unsuccessfully seeking to halt the release of the report, claiming he was not notified of the panel's plans to release the report nor was he provided copies of the materials.
"As such, Plaintiff has been afforded no opportunity to respond to any report or investigative conclusions of Defendants," the complaint reads. "Plaintiff has frequently and vehemently declared his innocence regarding the alleged misconduct, and requested Defendants cease their investigation and provide him appropriate due process rights."
Gaetz claimed the panel has been "unresponsive" to those demands. Gaetz wrote in the lawsuit that he told the committee in writing in May that allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, misuse of campaign funds and other actions were all false.
The lawsuit serves as a route for Gaetz to formally claim in writing that the committee's findings are false and that he believes his privacy has been invaded and the committee is defaming him.
District Judge Amit Mehta asked Gaetz to explain by the end of the day why the lawsuit should not be dismissed because the report has been publicly released.
The committee posted the report on its website Monday morning while noting in a statement the "significant and unusual amount" of reporting about the panel's probe of Gaetz. Without identifying specific stories, the committee stated that some reporting about its probe had been "inaccurate."
The committee condemned any potential unauthorized disclosures but emphasized that committee witnesses are permitted to disclose information about their interactions with its investigators. The panel also released appendices with its evidence, including financial documents and text messages cited in the report.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has pointed to the Justice Department declining to bring charges against him in 2023.
In a statement Gaetz released on X last week after reports that the committee had voted to release the report, Gaetz denied having sex with a minor or paying women for sex.
"In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated - even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years," Gaetz said. "It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now."
Although the committee alleged that Gaetz violated state laws, 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 report documents the evidence the committee gathered of Gaetz's numerous interactions with women who say they were paid for sex by Gaetz and his friend, Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector who is serving an 11-year prison sentence and cooperated with federal investigators.
The committee wrote that it spoke to more than a half dozen witnesses who attended parties, trips and events with Gaetz between 2017 through 2020. "Nearly every young woman that the Committee interviewed confirmed that she was paid for sex by, or on behalf of, Representative Gaetz," the panel wrote.
One of the sexual encounters involved a 17-year-old girl, the committee said. The woman told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 2017 party when she was 17.
"The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees," the committee wrote. "Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school."
The then-17-year-old did not tell Gaetz she was a minor at the time, and he did not ask her age, the committee found. The committee did not receive any evidence Gaetz was aware of her age. The woman told congressional investigators she was under the influence of ecstasy at the party and that she recalled seeing Gaetz use cocaine at the party.
Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor. "I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18," the Florida Republican wrote on X last week. "Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court - which is why no such claim was ever made in court."
The committee found that the sexual encounters were often organized by Greenberg through a website, SeekingArrangement.com. "Mr. Greenberg told the Committee that Representative Gaetz was aware that the women they had sex with and paid had met Mr. Greenberg through the 'sugar dating' website," the panel wrote.
Congressional investigators also found that Gaetz made payments to women using multiple platforms, including PayPal, Venmo and CashApp. The committee listed payments Gaetz made to 12 women, including to his former girlfriend, as well as Greenberg.
"Many of the women interviewed by the Committee were clear that there was a general expectation of sex," investigators wrote.
"One woman who was paid more than $5,000 by Representative Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 told the Committee that '99 percent of the time that (Representative Gaetz and I) were hanging out, there was sex involved,'" the panel said.
Gaetz's then-girlfriend "appeared to act as an intermediary" between Gaetz and women he paid for sex, the committee found, citing text messages it obtained. The committee said it found evidence that "Representative Gaetz's then-girlfriend sometimes participated with him in sexual encounters with other women who were active on the website or otherwise involved in sex-for-money arrangements."
The committee bolstered its findings by citing those text messages, including when Gaetz's then-girlfriend wrote to women that "the guys (Representative Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg) 'wanted me to share that they are a little limited in their cash flow this weekend ... (M)att was like(,) if it can be more of a customer appreciation week... ."
In another text message exchange cited by the committee, Greenberg exchanged messages with a woman in September 2018, writing, "If you have a friend that is down, perhaps all four of us can meet up later."
The woman responded she did have a friend who could meet up, adding, "I usually do $400 per meet."
Greenberg responded by sending a photo of Gaetz holding out a phone and taking a selfie. "Oooh my friend thinks he's really cute!" the woman responded.
"Well, he's down here only for the day, we work hard and play hard," Greenberg wrote. "Have you ever tried molly?"
Gaetz has resigned from his seat in the US House of Representatives and says he isn't considering political office for the time being.
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