House Ethics Report Finds Evidence Matt Gaetz Paid for Sex and Drugs

A long-awaited ethics report on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz found that the former member of Congress possessed illegal drugs like cocaine and regularly paid for sex, including with an underaged girl in 2017 – while he was serving in the House.

The bombshell report totaling 42 pages was released Monday after a last-minute attempt by Gaetz to delay it.

The release of the House Ethics Committee report ends a chaotic chapter for Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after being nominated for attorney general by President-elect Donald Trump. He withdrew from consideration under pressure amid mounting questions over his ability to serve in that position. Lawmakers called for the report to be released, but Gaetz’s resignation and decision to drop out threw the report’s release into jeopardy. The committee voted this month in secret to release it.

Evidence Suggests Gaetz Violated Florida’s Statutory Rape Law

The committee concluded that Gaetz violated Florida’s statutory rape law after finding “substantial evidence” that he had sexual relations with a 17-year-old.

Gaetz was accused of child sex trafficking and statutory rape in 2020. The Justice Department investigated the claims but ultimately did not charge him.

The woman at the center of the case testified in November to the House Ethics Committee that the two did have sexual relations when she was a minor. The report said the testimony was credible and that others corroborated the allegation.

The report also found Gaetz’s statements denying the accusation not to be credible, adding, “Representative Gaetz’s actions violated Florida’s statutory rape law.”

The committee concluded that, despite Gaetz’s denial, he used cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana several times between 2017 and 2020. Several women saw him using cocaine and ecstasy, and many believed he was regularly using ecstasy.

Members also found ample evidence that he used and purchased marijuana, going as far as to set up a “pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex to purchase marijuana.”

The report said he and his associates gave drugs to women to “facilitate the sexual misconduct” described elsewhere in the document.

Gaetz Sought to Obstruct the Investigation

The committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz attempted to obstruct the investigation. The report said he pointed to evidence that would clear him but failed to produce it and sought to “deflect, deter or mislead” the committee to prevent being exposed.

It said he declined to voluntarily provide testimony, did not appear when subpoenaed by the committee, and only handed over a small amount of non-public documents that were “largely irrelevant.”

Gaetz suggested that the committee must reveal the confidential sources supporting the allegations against him, prompting serious concerns from members that Gaetz “might retaliate against individuals who cooperated with the Committee.”

The committee also found that Gaetz’s attempts to mislead and throw off congressional investigators “implicated federal criminal laws relating to false statements and obstruction of Congress.”

“Even if Representative Gaetz’s obstructive conduct in this investigation did not rise to the level of a criminal violation, it was certainly inconsistent with the requirement that Members act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House, in violation of House Rule XXIII, clause 1,” the report said.