SCATHING REPORT Matt Gaetz is unable to prevent the release of an ethics report and launches into a furious outburst following allegations of paying a teenager and 11 women for sex and drugs.
Republican Matt Gaetz has expressed his outrage after failing to prevent the public release of a report detailing his alleged sexual and drug-related misconduct. The former representative, who recently stepped down as Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, is accused of paying multiple women and a 17-year-old girl for sexual encounters.
The report's final draft indicates that Gaetz made payments exceeding $90,000 to 11 women and the minor between 2017 and 2020. On Monday morning, Gaetz initiated a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee, aiming for a temporary restraining order to stop the investigation's findings from being made public.
In his lawsuit, Gaetz argues that the media coverage would be "immediate and widespread," which he believes would be detrimental. He also claims that, as a private citizen now, he should not fall under the committee's jurisdiction. The report includes several shocking allegations against the outspoken Republican. According to the report, Gaetz allegedly engaged in sexual activity with "Victim A," a 17-year-old who had just completed her junior year of high school, during a party in 2017. "Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex," the report notes. She also stated that she did not inform Gaetz of her age at the time, nor did he inquire about it.
The report claims that Gaetz was involved in parties characterized by sex and drugs, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where he reportedly used ecstasy and engaged with four women.
While all the women who provided testimony stated that their interactions with Gaetz were consensual, one woman mentioned to the committee that the drug use at the party had "impaired" her ability to "fully consent." Gaetz has denied any sexual involvement with a minor in his written statements to the committee. Following the release of his lawsuit, he took to X, previously known as Twitter, to share his thoughts.
"Is giving money to someone you're dating—without them asking for it and without it being 'charged' for sex—now considered prostitution?!?" he questioned. "There’s a reason this was done in a report on Christmas Eve-Eve instead of a courtroom where I could present evidence and confront witnesses. "This is testimony from one of the so-called 'prostitutes' that you won’t find in the report!" In a subsequent post, he stated, "ANOTHER one of the ethics witnesses, who was labeled a 'prostitute,' claimed she was NOT when pressed during a deposition.
This won’t be included in the 'ethics' report, naturally." All the alleged incidents took place before Gaetz married his wife, Ginger Luckey Gaetz. Ginger, who married Gaetz in 2021, has remained supportive of her husband amid the allegations. After he announced his withdrawal as Trump's nominee for attorney general, she posted a photo of them walking together, captioning it, "The end of an era." She added, "No one loves America more than this guy."
