I'm Shocked! House Ethics Report Accuses Matt Gaetz of 'Statutory Rape, Illicit Drug Use'
In November, one of Donald Trump's first moves as president-elect was to nominate now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz to run the Justice Department as the top law enforcement official in the nation. The move looked awful then, and somehow looks even worse now: On Monday, CNN obtained a copy of the House Ethics Committee's 37-page report on Gaetz, which concludes that "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 committee itself has yet to release the report but is expected to make it public as soon as Monday afternoon.
In 2021, the DOJ opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz trafficked and had a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl in 2017. The investigation closed in 2023 without explanation and Gaetz faced no charges. But the House Ethics Committee launched its own investigation that same year.
In November, Gaetz resigned from the House almost immediately after being tapped by Trump to be attorney general. His resignation reportedly came two days before the committee was set to release their report, stripping the committee of jurisdiction to investigate or punish him. Of course, within a week, Gaetz was forced to withdraw from consideration. Then, earlier this month, no longer under any obligation to protect Gaetz, at least a few GOP members of the Ethics Committee reportedly sided with Democrats in a secret vote on whether to release the report, even as Gaetz is no longer in the House. And now, here it is!
The committee's report cites testimony from numerous witnesses who say they were paid to have sex with Gaetz, as well as text messages discussing the transactions and Venmo and PayPal receipts. (Between being an alleged sex predator and not knowing the 101-level ins and outs of doing crime, please pick a struggle, sir!) The report includes additional details about the 17-year-old girl Gaetz allegedly, statutorily raped in 2017, identified as "Victim A." Per the report, Gaetz had two encounters with Victim A, both during which she was a minor and a junior in high school: "Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age."
Gaetz's then-girlfriend allegedly facilitated many of his encounters with sex workers, sometimes joining him, citing an extensive array of text messages. In one message written by Gaetz's then-girlfriend to a group of women, she said that Gaetz "wanted me to share that they are a little limited in their cash flow this weekend … Matt was like, if it can be more of a customer appreciation week…”
The report does note that despite violating a range of Florida state laws, Gaetz does not appear to have violated federal sex trafficking laws because he didn't transport individuals under 18 across state lines. The report also notes that the Committee didn't "find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.” Cool. Someone get this man a gold star!
19 hours into Matt Gaetz's big career https://t.co/HIW1lY70X5 pic.twitter.com/cT6DTZxQTX
— Chris OIIey (@chrisoIIey) December 23, 2024
The report further alleges that Gaetz "made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use," listing payments that total over $90,000 to 12 different women. In 2018, he allegedly took a trip to the Bahamas where witnesses testified that he did illegal drugs and had sex with four women. The committee noted that "all the women that the Committee interviewed stated their sexual activity with [Gaetz] was consensual"—but "at least one woman felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have ‘impair(ed their) ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.'" The report continued, "One woman said, ‘I think about it all the time … . I still see him when I turn on the tv and there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies.’”
Surprising absolutely no one, the committee further wrote that there's "substantial evidence" Gaetz partook in rampant illicit drug use, citing an extensive trail of Gaetz's own text messages, as well as a fake email he appears to have made from his Capitol Hill office for the purpose of buying drugs. In Gaetz's own written answers to the committee, he denied using drugs.
Gaetz also predictably denies the findings of the report. On Monday he filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the report's release, arguing he's a private citizen and the House Ethics Committee has no jurisdiction over him. Last week, he attempted to get ahead of the report, conceding that "my 30’s were an era of working very hard—and playing hard too," as if alleged sexual misconduct involving minors is a rite of passage for thirty-somethings.
Even before details about the report surfaced, Gaetz's nomination was tanked last month by a continuous flow of new reports on how he used his “adopted,” adult son Nestor’s PayPal account to pay for sex, and sent suspicious Venmo payments from 2017 to 2019 totaling $10,000 to young women. The Venmo payments were for “being my friend,” “joy,” “being awesome,” “love you,” and “just because.” I'm uncertain this man should be trusted with a bank account, let alone run the DOJ.
Welp! Hopefully, none of this negatively affects Gaetz's new career as *checks notes* a Cameo model.