Dec 25
Inside The Gaetz Ethics Report, a Trove Of New Details Alleging Payments for Sex and Drug Use
Lisa Mascaro and Alanna Durkin Richer READ TIME: 6 MIN.
The House Ethics Committee's long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz documents a trove of salacious allegations, including sex with an underage girl, that tanked the Florida Republican's bid to lead the Justice Department.
Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation.
The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report's release Monday, slammed the committee's findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a Justice Department investigation into the allegations ended without any criminal charges filed against him.
"Giving funds to someone you are dating – that they didn't ask for – and that isn't 'charged' for sex is now prostitution?!?" Gaetz wrote in one post Monday. "There is a reason they did 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."
