The House Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report Monday on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, after investigating sexual misconduct allegations against him over the objections of the committee’s chairman.

The committee concluded that there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz violated House rules, state and federal laws and other standards of conduct, engaging in prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, accepting improper gifts, and granting special favors and Prohibitions of Privilege and Disability by Congress.”

Gaetz has consistently denied any wrongdoing, including in a statement on social media last week.

The panel launched an investigation into Gaetz in 2021 after a flood of allegations were made against the then-congressman, including illegal drug use and sexual misconduct.

Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida and staunch 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 scuttled Gaetz’s bid to serve as Trump’s attorney general.

In a last-ditch effort Monday, Gaetz sued the ethics panel and its chairman, Michael Guest, R-Miss., to block release of the report, arguing the committee had no jurisdiction over a private citizen.

The panel said Monday that it does not typically release its findings after it loses jurisdiction over the matter — which happened after Gaetz resigned from Congress last month.

“However, there have been several prior cases in which the committee has determined that it is in the public interest to continue to publish its findings after a member has resigned from Congress,” the panel wrote. “The committee does not do this lightly.”

Among other things, the committee found that Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl in 2017, used or possessed illegal drugs on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019, and also used his chief of staff to obtain a passport for a woman with whom he was dating behaved sexually, “thereby falsely informing the U.S. State Department that she was a voter.”

In connection with a trip to the Bahamas in 2018, he also accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging, in excess of the amounts permitted by law.

“Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully attempted to obstruct and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct,” the committee said. “Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that discredits the House of Representatives.”

The decision to release the report represents an about-face from the committee, which was deadlocked on the issue in November, when Gaetz was still vying for the attorney general job. A full House vote to release the report, introduced by a Democratic lawmaker, also failed earlier this month.

Guest, the panel’s chairman, wrote Monday on behalf of dissenting members who objected to the report’s release: “While we do not question the committee’s findings, we have serious concerns that the majority are inconsistent with established standards of the Committee and voted to publish a report on a person who is no longer within the jurisdiction of the Committee, an action that the Committee has not taken since 2006.”

The FBI investigated Gaetz in 2021 for possible sex trafficking violations, but the Justice Department did not file charges. The ethics panel also did not conclude that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking law.

While Gaetz has drawn the ire of Democratic and Republican colleagues alike, many Republicans have expressed concerns about releasing a report on someone who is no longer a member of the House of Representatives or seeking higher office.

Gaetz wrote in his social media post: “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 such a claim was never brought in court.”

“My 30s were a time when I worked very hard – and played hard too. “It’s embarrassing, although not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” he continued.