6 key findings from Matt Gaetz's report published by the Ethics Commission

The House Ethics Committee’s bombshell report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ethical conduct lays out evidence that the Florida Republican hosted drug-fueled sex parties with women who received payments from him or an intermediary, including a minor.

The report, which cites testimony, financial records and text message exchanges, concludes that Gaetz violated Florida law and House ethics rules during his time as a member of Congress and concludes that Gaetz “in acted in a manner that casts an unbelievable light on the House of Representatives.”

Gaetz is a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump and was Trump’s first nominee for attorney general before withdrawing from the race amid opposition in the Senate. He resigned from Congress last month.

Gaetz has maintained his innocence, attacked the credibility of the ethics commission and published a series of posts on X on Monday with excerpts from witness statements that he said refute the commission’s findings.

“Giving someone you’re dating money that they didn’t ask for and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he wrote.

The former congressman said last week that he “often sent money” to women he dated, but “I have NEVER had sexual contact with anyone under the age of 18. Any claim I have would be destroyed in court – which is why no such claim has ever been made in court.”

Gaetz did not immediately respond to a USA TODAY request for comment.

Here are the report’s six main allegations:

Paying for sex

The ethics commission’s report said Gaetz spent “tens of thousands of dollars” on women “with whom he agreed that they would be compensated for sexual activity.” The committee said it spoke to more than half a dozen witnesses and “almost every young woman the committee interviewed confirmed that she had been paid for sex.”

The payments came either from Gaetz himself or an intermediary, the committee report says. The activity took place between 2017 and 2020, when he was a member of Congress. The committee called this “commercial sex” and said it violated Florida prostitution law.

“Rep. Gaetz exploited the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter,” the report said.

Sex with a 17 year old

The committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old in July 2017, when he was 35. The woman, identified in the report as Victim A, “had just completed her freshman year of high school.” The age of consent in Florida is 18.

The report said the couple had sex at a party twice, including once when there were witnesses, and that the woman “remembered receiving $400 in cash” from Gaetz that night. The report said the woman used Ecstasy that night and that she saw Gaetz use cocaine at the party.

The report said the woman did not inform Gaetz of her age; that he didn’t ask; and that he did not know she was under 18 years old. However, the report states that Gaetz maintained contact with the woman and met with her again after she turned 18 for “commercial sex.”

Cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana

The report said there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz used cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana and even “set up a pseudonymous email account from his House office in the Capitol complex to purchase marijuana.” He denied the allegations, the report said.

The report states that Gaetz’s then-girlfriend “brought drugs” on the Bahamas trip. Another said she “brought cocaine to at least one event with Rep. Gaetz and saw him use cocaine or Ecstasy at least five times,” the report said.

“Several other women observed Representative Gaetz to be under the influence of drugs,” the report states. “In addition, almost every witness interviewed observed Rep. Gaetz using marijuana.”

Using his congressional office to help a woman who paid Gaetz for sex

According to the report, Gaetz used his congressional office to secure a passport for a woman he paid for sex. The report says he met her in 2018 and the night they met, she had sex with Gaetz and his intermediary sent her money, but she also told him that day that she needed a new passport.

According to the report, Gaetz connected her with a top aide who worked with a State Department representative to get her a passport “within days of their first meeting.” The woman was not a voter because she did not live in Gaetz’s district, but a State Department email obtained by the committee was aimed at confirming with Gaetz’s office “an appointment for your voter.”

The report said it was unusual for a top aide to process passport applications and that the task was typically handled by lower-level staff in the district. The report said the woman continued to “date” and have sex with Gaetz.

Gaetz’s trip to the Bahamas violated gift rules

The report said Gaetz violated House rules against improper gifts when he took a trip to the Bahamas in September 2018 with two other men and six women. The report said he provided no evidence of how he paid the travel expenses other than getting there on a commercial flight.

The report said one of the other men in the group paid for the vacation rental where the group was staying and that Gaetz returned to Florida on a private plane with another man and three of the women.

“Although there were no specific payments to the women in connection with the Bahamas trip, according to one woman, the trip itself was more of a payment,” the report said.

Obstruction of the Ethics Committee’s investigation

The report said Gaetz “continually attempted to distract, deter, or mislead the committee in order to prevent his actions from being discovered,” implicating federal criminal statutes for making false statements and obstructing Congress.

The report said he presented exculpatory evidence but failed to provide it, that he “willfully withheld information” and that he “refused to voluntarily testify and failed to appear when subpoenaed.”

The report pointed to Gaetz’s public letter he released to The report said he wrote the letter after asking the committee for additional time to answer written questions and said he had been “uncooperative throughout the review.”

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6 key findings from Matt Gaetz’s report published by the Ethics Commission

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