The House Ethics Committee on Monday released its long-awaited report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., after looking into sexual misconduct allegations against him.
The committee found there was "substantial evidence" 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."
Among other accusations, the committee found Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl in 2017, and used or possessed illegal drugs on multiple occasions from 2017-2019, including ecstasy and cocaine.
Gaetz has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including in a statement on social media 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," he wrote in the post.
"My 30's were an era of working very hard - and playing hard too. It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life," he continued.
The panel opened an investigation into Gaetz in 2021 after a flurry of allegations against the then-congressman, including illegal drug use and sexual misconduct. It released the report against the objections of some of the panel's members and its chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., who said the committee had no jurisdiction over former members of Congress.
Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida and a loyal defender of President-elect Donald Trump, resigned his seat before the panel voted to release the report, and insists he did nothing wrong. But the panel's leaked allegations last month derailed Gaetz's bid to serve as Trump's attorney general.
In a last-ditch effort on Monday, Gaetz sued the Ethics panel and its chairman, Guest, seeking to block the report's release, and arguing the committee has no jurisdiction over a private citizen.
"In the public interest"
The panel in its report said it typically doesn't release its findings after losing jurisdiction over the issue — which happened once Gaetz resigned from Congress last month.
"However, there are a few prior instances where the Committee has determined that it was in the public interest to release its findings even after a Member's resignation from Congress," the panel wrote. "The Committee does not do so lightly."
In its report, the panel also found Gaetz used his chief of staff to get a passport for a woman with whom he engaged in sexual conduct, "falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent."
He also accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging, in connection to a trip to the Bahamas in 2018, in excess of amounts permitted to lawmakers.
"Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee's investigation of his conduct," the committee said. "Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House."
Joel Leppard, an attorney for two women who testified about Gaetz before the House ethics committee, said the panel's findings "vindicate my clients' accounts and demonstrate their credibility."
"We appreciate the Committee's commitment to transparency in releasing this comprehensive report so the truth can be known," he added.
Committee changes course
The decision to release the report is a reversal from the Ethics committee, which deadlocked on the issue in November, while Gaetz was still vying for the attorney general job. A full vote of the House to release the report, brought by a Democratic member, also failed earlier this month.
Guest, the panel's chairman, on Monday wrote in the report on behalf of dissenting members who objected to the report's release: "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 FBI investigated Gaetz in 2021 over possible sex trafficking violations, but the Department of Justice did not bring charges. The ethics panel also didn't find that Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute.
While Gaetz has drawn the ire of Democratic and Republican colleagues alike, many Republicans have raised concerns about releasing a report on someone who is no longer a member of the House, nor seeking higher office.
"The decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the Committee's long-standing practice and is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences," Guest, the Ethics Committee chairman, said in a statement.
—With assistance from NPR's Barbara Sprunt and Ryan Lucas.
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