Explosive Ethics Report: Gaetz accused of paying for sex, drug use, obstruction

The House Ethics Committee of the U.S. House Representatives has released a report accusing former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz of engaging in serious misconduct, including alleged involvement in underage sexual activity and the misuse of his position for personal gain.

The committee’s findings outline “substantial evidence” that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz “regularly” paid women for sexual encounters and engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl and also used or possessed illegal drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019.

The findings said he accepted gifts exceeding legal limits during a 2018 trip to the Bahamas; instructed his chief of staff to assist a woman he was sexually involved with in obtaining a passport, falsely claiming she was a constituent and that he “knowingly and wilfully sought to impede and obstruct” the committee’s investigation and acted in a way that tarnished the reputation of the House.

Gaetz, who has repeatedly denied all allegations, criticised the report’s findings shortly after its release.

Taking to social media, he argued that the payments referenced in the report were to individuals he was dating and not solicitations for sex.

“There is a reason they released this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” Gaetz posted on X (formerly Twitter).

In another post, he challenged claims of trafficking, citing testimony from the alleged victim: “This is the trafficking ‘victim’ claiming under oath that this characterisation is false.”

Despite his denials, the Ethics Committee report concluded that Gaetz’s actions reflected poorly on the integrity of Congress.