The House Ethics Committee released on Monday the report from its investigation into alleged misconduct involving former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
The Committee acknowledged that it normally does not release reports on former members of Congress but chose to do so in this case because of the intense public interest in the case and because the majority of the members on the Committee voted to release it even though Gaetz resigned from Congress.
The Committee said that it found “substantial evidence” of the following:
- From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him.
- In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
- During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
- Representative Gaetz accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.
- In 2018, Representative 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.
- Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.
- Representative 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.”
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The Committee noted that they did not find enough evidence to conclude that Gaetz had violated federal sex trafficking laws, which 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.
