As expected, the House Ethics Committee has now released its report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz (FL).
Given Gaetz’s resignation from Congress following his (now withdrawn) appointment as attorney general in President-elect Donald Trump’s up-to-date administration, there has been speculation as to whether or not this would occur. But on Wednesday, the committee voted to release it despite objections not only from Gaetz himself but also from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other Republicans.
About Face: The House Ethics Committee changes its mind on the Gaetz report
NEW: There’s more to Matt Gaetz’s heated reaction to the release of the ethics report
Gaetz ethics report has been published: https://t.co/gO5vQkaVOG
– Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) December 23, 2024
The report contains allegations, most of which have already been made been published.
The House Ethics Committee gathered evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida paid several women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school junior, used illegal drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy, and congressional efforts to investigate his conduct disabled, says a draft of his findings, obtained from Just the news.
“The Committee concluded that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct that prohibit prostitution, statutory rape, illegal drug use, improper gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” , says the draft of the planned report to be published this week.
The draft report also said there was no evidence that Gaetz participated in sex trafficking, as some had claimed, and concluded that all of the women who traveled with Gaetz from their home states did so voluntarily, even if they accepted payments for sex.
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The draft notes that the committee voted to accept the results on December 10 and includes a dissent from the chair of the committee objecting to the planned publication. Two sources confirmed the authenticity of the draft but warned that the final version released to the public may contain some changes, such as redactions.
Gaetz has steadfastly denied allegations that he engaged in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 and, as you might expect, has spoken out about the release of the report, taking to X to highlight numerous issues with it:
Giving someone you’re with money that they didn’t ask for and that isn’t “charged” for sex is now prostitution?!?
There’s a reason they did this to me in a report on Christmas Eve and not in a courtroom where I could present evidence and make challenges… pic.twitter.com/HzWODpBBB9
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 23, 2024
ANOTHER of the ethics witnesses who was an alleged “prostitute” claims that when she was actually asked to testify, she was in fact NOT one.
Of course, this will not be included in the “ethics” report. pic.twitter.com/SpZDPitbRp
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 23, 2024
This is the human trafficking “victim” who claims under oath that this characterization is false. pic.twitter.com/fwRFBAcrWI
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 23, 2024
You will not find MORE TESTIMONIALS in the “Ethics” report.
This is clearly not prostitution by any conceivable definition.
That’s why I was never charged with a crime! pic.twitter.com/PpsVpeR3Sp
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 23, 2024
“I didn’t charge anyone anything.” pic.twitter.com/UKsUriQLQa
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) December 23, 2024
In one interview Speaking to Just the News on Sunday evening, Gaetz said:
“These were some women that I had dated over the course of a decade and had relationships with at various times and to whom I was admittedly generous.”
It should also be noted that, as Gaetz emphasized, the Justice Department investigated the matter and declined to file criminal charges against him.
The chairman of the ethics committee, Michael Guest, expressed a different opinion in the statement report:
I am writing on behalf of the committee members who do not support the release of the report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. We believe and remain steadfast in the position that the House Ethics Committee has lost jurisdiction to release material work product relating to Mr. Gaetz to the public following his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024.
While we do not question the Committee’s findings, we have solemn concerns that the majority deviated from the Committee’s established standards and voted to issue a report on an individual who is no longer within the Committee’s jurisdiction Action that the committee has not taken since 2006.
House rules give the committee jurisdiction over current members, officers and staff of the House of Representatives. In accordance with these rules, when a member under investigation by the Committee leaves the House, the Committee’s standard procedure is to close the investigation and to make no further comment on its findings. We do not believe that the rules allow the Committee to continue or expand its jurisdiction as it sees fit. Contrary precedent is extremely scarce, contrary to the rules, and outweighed by the immense majority of matters – too numerous to mention – in which the Committee has failed to take significant action after losing its jurisdiction.
Representative Gaetz resigned from Congress, withdrew from running for the next administration and declared that he would not seek a seat in the 119th Congress. The decision to release a report following his resignation represents a break with the committee’s long-standing practice, exposes the committee to excessive criticism and is seen by some as an attempt to weaponize the committee’s process.
We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional boundaries established by House Rules and Committee standards, particularly when it comes to public disclosures, is a perilous deviation with potentially disastrous consequences.
Finally, we echo the Committee’s views, as expressed in its public statement dated December 23, 2024, regarding the significant and unusual level of public reporting on the Committee’s consideration of this matter. As the committee expressed: “[t]o To the extent that public reporting on this issue results from unauthorized disclosures of confidential information of the Committee, we strongly condemn such unauthorized disclosures as detrimental and detrimental to the work of the Committee.”
