Trump’s former A-G pick Matt Gaetz paid for sex with minor and drugs, ethics report finds: Media
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Former congressman Matt Gaetz allegedly paid 12 women more than $122,000 – payments that were likely in connection with sexual activity and drug use.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – The US House Ethics Committee has found that former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for drugs and sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, US media reported on Dec 23, citing a final draft of the panel’s report.
Mr Gaetz, who has denied wrongdoing, resigned from the House of Representatives
In a bid to prevent the report’s release, then expected on Dec 23, Mr Gaetz filed a lawsuit that day in federal court in Washington against the ethics panel arguing that it no longer had jurisdiction after he resigned from Congress.
“The committee’s position regarding its lack of authority over former members represents a clear, well-established policy rather than an isolated interpretation,” his lawyers wrote in a complaint.
His lawyers sought an emergency order to temporarily block publication of the report, which they argued would contain “untruthful and defamatory information” about Mr Gaetz.
Reuters was not immediately able to reach Mr Gaetz for comment.
The report found that Mr Gaetz paid more than US$90,000 (S$122,000) to 12 women – payments the ethics panel determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and drug use, CBS News reported. CNN reported similar details of the draft report. Both outlets said his actions violated Florida state laws.
The ethics panel received testimony that Mr Gaetz had sex twice with a 17-year-old girl, described in the report as “Victim A”, at a party in 2017, CBS reported.
“Victim A recalled receiving US$400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” CBS quoted the report as saying.
“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
Mr Gaetz was the subject of a three-year FBI investigation into allegations of sex trafficking that produced no criminal charges.
The ethics panel said there was no sufficient evidence that the three-term congressman violated the federal sex trafficking statute, CBS reported.
All of the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Mr Gaetz were consensual, according to CBS.
However, one woman told the committee that the use of drugs at the parties and events she attended may have “(impaired her) ability to really know what was going on or fully consent”.
Another woman told the committee: “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
Mr Gaetz argued in his lawsuit that the panel had violated his constitutional rights to due process under the law “through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations”.
The panel’s report found that Mr Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct banning prostitution, statutory rape and drug use, CBS reported.
It also found “substantial evidence” Mr Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use, CBS reported. It accused him of accepting gifts of luxury travel in excess of permissible limits with a 2018 trip to The Bahamas, CBS added. REUTERS
