“There is substantial evidence that Rep. Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, impermissible gifts, favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the congressional ethics report said.
According to the report, between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz made payments totaling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 women who were “likely to have been involved in sexual activity and/or drug use that the committee determined”.
The report also includes testimony that Gaetz paid a 17-year-old girl for sex at a party in 2017 and gave her $400 “which he understood to be payment for sex.” Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor.
The Justice Department also investigated claims that he had sex with minors but ultimately did not file criminal charges against him.
In a last-minute court filing Monday, Gaetz asked for a temporary restraining order to block the release of the report. He accused the Ethics Commission of trying to exercise jurisdiction over civilians.
The committee’s 42-page report accuses Gaetz of being “uncooperative” throughout the review and frequently “biasing, suppressing or misleading” the panel “to prevent his actions from being exposed.”
Despite the subpoena, he has never appeared before the committee to testify.
Gaetz represented Florida’s first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives and won office in the same election in 2016, putting his ally Trump in the White House for the first time.
Gaetz married his current wife, Ginger, in 2021, who has supported the former Florida congressman as he faces the allegations.
She posted a photo of her husband’s
Guts When he resigned from Congress last month after being nominated by President Trump to be his attorney general and the nation’s top law enforcement officer, he was considered out of reach of the committee.
One of the reasons Trump chose Gaetz is because he is an ultra-loyalist who has promised to take on a “weaponized” legal system that his supporters believe targeted Trump.
He was one of Trump’s strongest defenders on Capitol Hill. But many Republicans in Congress, including those tasked with voting on those nominations, were appalled by the selection and successfully challenged it.
Gaetz resigned eight days after being nominated by Trump as controversy grew. Trump later nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his candidate for attorney general.
President Trump has not yet commented on the report’s findings.
