Gaetz Ethics report finds ‘substantial evidence’ of statutory rape, drug use

The House Ethics Committee found “substantial evidence” that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) paid a 17-year-old high school student for sex when he was 35, used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy, and obstructed Congress’s investigation into his conduct.

Those conclusions come in a highly anticipated report released Monday that capped the panel’s years-long, on-and-off investigation into the former Florida congressman.

"The committee concluded there was substantial evidence that Representative 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," the report says.

Gatez has repeatedly denied having sexual contact with a minor and other wrongdoing. Last week, in anticipation of the report’s release, Gaetz said he had engaged in “embarrassing, though not criminal” past behavior. 

On Monday, he filed a last-minute lawsuit to block the Ethics Committee from releasing the report.

“These claims would be destroyed in court — which is why they were never made in any court against me,” Gaetz told The Hill on Monday ahead of the report’s release, in reference to the Department of Justice declining to file charges after investigating Gaetz for similar matters.

Interest in the Ethics panel's investigation reached its peak after President-elect Trump picked Gaetz to be attorney general, leading him to abruptly resign from Congress just before the panel was due to release the report. Amid opposition from GOP senators, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for AG the following week.

His exit from the House set off a debate about whether it was appropriate for the panel to take the rare, but not unprecedented, step of releasing its findings on a former member.

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) led dissenting members in an unusual statement criticizing the panel’s decision to break with “long-standing practice” and release the report on Gaetz.

The report gives substantially more detail and documentation about accusations that have swirled around Gaetz for years, including testimony from the woman who was 17 years old at the time of the alleged 2017 sexual encounter with Gaetz.

The report did not find that Gaetz had engaged in sex trafficking, even though it said that Gaetz traveled with women that he paid for sex “on several occasions.”

Allegations of statutory rape

A woman identified only as Victim A told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 15, 2017, party when she was 17 and Gaetz was a 35-year-old first-term congressman, though the committee said it had no evidence that Gaetz was aware of the girl’s age.

“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 report said. “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 Committee did not receive any evidence indicating that Representative Gaetz was aware that Victim A was a minor when he had sex with her.”

Victim A said that she was under the influence of ecstasy during the encounter, and recalled Gaetz using cocaine at that party, but was “certain” about her encounter with Gaetz.

The report said that while Gaetz denied engaging in sexual activity with a minor, he “refused to answer specific questions relating to his interactions with Victim A.”

ABC reported that part of the reason the DOJ declined to file charges against Gaetz had to do with concerns that a jury would not convict him if prosecutors could not demonstrate Gaetz knew the girl was 17.

But the Ethics report said Gaetz’s knowledge of the girl’s age does not matter under Florida’s statutory rape law.

"Under Florida’s statutory rape law, it is a felony for a person 24 years of age or older to engage in sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old," the report said. "A person charged with this offense may not claim ignorance or misrepresentation of the minor’s age as a defense.”

When news first broke about Gaetz being investigated by the DOJ over alleged sexual contact with the minor, Gaetz had told Fox News host Tucker Carlson that the 17-year-old “doesn’t exist.”

Committee finds other violations and obstruction

The committee alleges that Gaetz accepted improper gifts in the form of transportation and lodging related to a 2018 trip to the Bahamas that included sexual encounters and drug use, according to testimony given to the committee. While Gaetz has denied that charge, the report said Gaetz provided “no evidence showing how he paid for any travel costs other than his flight to the Bahamas, despite being given multiple opportunities to do so.”

In a finding that says Gaetz “dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with him he had a personal relationship,” the report says that Gaetz “used the power of his office to assist a woman with whom he was engaged in a sexual relationship in obtaining an expedited passport,” despite that woman not being his constituent.

The committee also found that Gaetz obstructed the panel’s probe, noting that he “declined to provide testimony voluntarily and did not appear when subpoenaed,” and charging that he “routinely ignored or significantly delayed producing relevant information requested by the Committee.”

Gaetz denies wrongdoing

Gaetz has vigorously denied having sexual contact with someone under the age of 18 and other wrongdoing, including in the Monday court filing that aimed to block the report’s release. Gaetz’s attorneys said the report contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his reputation.

The Department of Justice had looked into whether Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws related to the 17-year-old and traveling with her across state lines, but in 2023 declined to charge Gaetz with a crime. That probe stemmed from another investigation former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is currently in prison for including sex trafficking of a minor and fraud charges, and had cooperated with the DOJ matter as part of a plea agreement.

When the DOJ probe ended, however, the Ethics Committee booted up its investigation into Gaetz. The House Committee is empowered by the House to investigate whether representatives or staff have violated the rules and standards of the House, and has much different standards than federal law enforcement agencies.

Gaetz has noted the different standards of the internal Ethics committee versus a court when defending himself, saying in a post last week: “I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court – which is why no such claim was ever made in court.”

Report’s release marks end to drama on Capitol Hill

Monday’s release of the report marks the end of a weeks-long drama surrounding whether the panel, which typically conducts its work in secrecy would release its findings.

The panel had been investigating Gaetz since 2021. But interest in the probe reached a fever pitch in November after Gaetz was nominated by President-elect Trump to be attorney general and resigned from the House that day — a one-two step that came days before the committee was scheduled to meet and vote on whether to release its report into the Florida Republican.

Gaetz ultimately withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general days later amid opposition from GOP senators, then said he would not take the oath of office for the 119th Congress.

Some in both parties argued the committee should still release the report, especially in light of his Cabinet nomination — and Democrats pushed for it even after he withdrew from consideration — while other Republicans contended that the nearly-finished report should never be released since Gaetz was no longer a member of Congress.

The Ethics Committee does not have jurisdiction over former members of Congress. While rare, however, the panel has a few times released findings on former members — most recently in 2006, when the panel released the results of its investigation into former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), focusing on the conduct of House Republican leaders.

The debate over releasing the report divided the Ethics Committee. While Democrats were firm in their belief that the body of work should go public, Guest, the panel’s chairman, publicly said the findings should not see the light of day. In November, after Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration from attorney general, Guest said “I think that this should end the discussion of whether or not the Ethics Committee should continue to move forward in this matter.”

He stood firm in that position in the final report, writing an unusual dissenting statement that criticized the panel’s decision to release the report on Gaetz. He said he was writing on behalf of panel members “who do not support the release of the report,” but did not disclose who is included in that group.

“While we do not challenge the Committee’s findings, we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006,” the statement said.

Guest’s statement noted that Gaetz has said he will not return for the 119th Congress, which starts on Jan. 3, arguing that the break from “long-standing practice,” opens the panel to “undue criticism” and “will be viewed by some as an attempt to weaponize the Committee’s process.”

The panel took a vote to release the report in November, which failed. Then a pair of House Democrats forced votes in the House on resolutions that would have compelled the Ethics Committee to publish its body of work on Gaetz, but the chamber voted to refer the measures back to committee — torpedoing the effort to reveal the findings.

Updated at 11:05 a.m.