Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz allegedly paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and bought and used illegal drugs, a draft congressional report reportedly said Monday.
A draft report from the House Ethics Committee accuses the former Florida lawmaker, who was briefly nominated to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general, of illegally paying thousands of dollars for sex with paid escorts, including the underage girl, CBS News first reported Monday.
He also bought and used illegal drugs including ecstasy at parties with the women in Florida and on vacation jaunts, the report said.
“There is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the 37-page report said.
The final report, which says Gaetz likely broke numerous state laws, is expected to be released in the coming days after the House Ethics Committee voted to publicly release it in a reversal of its usual policy.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks on stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Gaetz, 42, an outspoken conservative Republican, has denied breaking any laws and says he is being smeared by political enemies, although he admits partying too hard in his younger years. He has threatened to sue to block release of the report.
Federal prosecutors investigated Gaetz for violating sex trafficking laws in relation to much of the same conduct but declined to charge him.
Gaetz won reelection in November to what would have been a fourth term in Congress. But he resigned on the day Trump nominated him for attorney general in an apparent ploy to prevent release of the damning report.
His bid to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer imploded within a matter of days.
Not long after that, Gaetz inked a deal with One America News. He plans to join the right-ring network’s primetime lineup in January.
