Former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz spent thousands of dollars on drugs and sex, including with a 17-year-old high school student, according to the House Ethics Committees’ report released via various media outlets on Monday (December 23).
The 37-page report concludes that the politician violated Florida state laws, including statutory rape, which defines the age of consent as 18.
“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 favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the report concludes, according to CBS News.
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He had filed a lawsuit to block the release of the report, citing his resignation from Congress and current status as a private citizen, via People.
The Ethics Committee first announced their investigation into the politician in April 2021 over allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift.
The committee then revealed it had deferred an investigation following a request from the Department of Justice, which was conducting its own investigation.
Early in 2024, new witnesses reportedly were called in to testify.
The leaked report details certain activities like a trip in 2018 to the Bahamas, which was allegedly gifted to him against House Ethics guidelines. Multiple witnesses claim he took ecstasy and had sex with four women.
The report also says that at a 2017 party, he had sex twice with “Victim A,” who was then 17 years old and had not yet begun her senior year of high school.
“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the committee concluded, via CBS News. “Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
The women who testified all noted that the sexual encounters were consensual, but one witness suggested that the drug use involved may have impaired their “ability to really know what was going on or fully consent,” via CBS News. Another woman testified: “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
Matt married Ginger Luckey in 2021. He issued a statement on X: “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. … 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.”
He reportedly also set up a fake email in his congressional office that was used for purchasing marijuana, and directed his chief of staff to deceitfully work with the State Department to obtain a passport for one of the women with whom he had sexual relations.
President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for Attorney General amid investigation by House Ethics. After resigning from Congress, Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination.
The Ethics Committee initially voted in late November to not release the report, but met again in early December and held a new vote on the matter, via CNN.
For more details from the report, click here.
