Underage prostitution, rules violations and more: Key takeaways from the Matt Gaetz report

The House Ethics Committee’s bombshell report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s ethical conduct lays out evidence that the Florida Republican held drug-fueled sex parties with women who received payments from him or an intermediary, including one who was underage.

The report, which cites witness testimony, financial records, and text message exchanges, found that Gaetz violated Florida law and House ethics rules while he was a member of Congress, and concluded Gaetz “acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House.”

Gaetz is a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump, and he was Trump's initial choice for attorney general, before withdrawing from consideration in the face of Senate opposition. He resigned from Congress last month.

Gaetz has maintained his innocence, attacked the credibility of the Ethics Committee, and on Monday published a series of posts on X with snippets of witness testimony that he said refute the committee's findings.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating - that they didn’t ask for - and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he wrote.

The former Congress member said last week that he "often sent funds" to women he dated but “I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court ? which is why no such claim was ever made in court."

Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.

Here are the report's six key allegations:

Paying for sex

The Ethics Committee report said Gaetz spent “tens of thousands of dollars” on women “with whom he had a shared understanding that they would be compensated for sexual activity.” The committee said it spoke to more than a half-dozen witnesses, and “nearly every young woman that the committee interviewed confirmed she was paid for sex.”

The payments came either from Gaetz himself or an intermediary, the committee’s report said. The activity happened between 2017 and 2020, while he was a member of Congress. The committee called this “commercial sex” and said it violates Florida prostitution law.

“Representative Gaetz took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter,” the report said.

Sex with a 17-year-old

The committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old in July 2017, when he was 35. The woman, identified as Victim A in the report, “had just completed her junior year of high school.” The age of consent in Florida is 18.

The report said the pair had sex twice at a party, including one time that there were witnesses, and that the woman “recalled receiving $400 in cash” from Gaetz that night. The report said the woman used ecstasy that night, and that she had seen Gaetz use cocaine at the party.

The report said that the woman did not inform Gaetz of her age; that he didn’t ask; and that he was not aware of her being under 18. However, the report said Gaetz maintained contact with the woman, and met up with her for “commercial sex” again after she turned 18.

Cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana

The report said there was “substantial evidence” that Gaetz used cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, even setting up “a pseudonymous email account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.” He denied the allegations, the report said.

The report said Gaetz’s then-girlfriend “brought drugs with us” on the Bahamas trip. Another said she “brought cocaine to at least one event with Representative Gaetz and that she witnessed him taking cocaine or ecstasy on at least five occasions,” the report said.

“Several other women observed Representative Gaetz to be under the influence of drugs,” the report said. “Additionally, nearly every witness interviewed observed Representative Gaetz using marijuana.”

Use of his congressional office to help a woman Gaetz paid for sex

The report said Gaetz used his congressional office to get a passport for a woman he paid for sex. The report said he met her in 2018 and on the night they met, she had sex with Gaetz and his intermediary sent her money, but she also told him that day she needed a new passport.

The report said Gaetz connected her with a top aide, who worked with a representative of the State Department to get her a passport “within days of their first meeting.” The woman was not a constituent because she didn’t live in Gaetz’s district, but an email from the State Department obtained by the committee sought to confirm with Gaetz’s office “an appointment for your constituent.”

The report said it was unusual for a top aide to process passport requests, and usually lower-level staff in the district perform that task. The report said the woman continued to “meet up” with Gaetz and have sex.

Gaetz's trip to the Bahamas violated gift rules

The report said Gaetz violated the House’s rules against impermissible gifts when he took a trip with two other men and six women to the Bahamas in September 2018. The report said he did not provide evidence of how he paid for the travel costs, other than a commercial flight he took to get there.

The report said one of the other men in the group paid for the vacation rental where the group stayed, and that Gaetz returned to Florida on a private plane with one other man and three of the women.

“While there were no specific payments to the women in connection with the Bahamas trip, according to one woman, ‘the trip itself was more so the payment,’” the report said.

Obstruction of the Ethics Committee investigation  

The report said Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed,” implicating federal criminal laws of false statements and obstruction of Congress.

The report said he pointed to exculpatory evidence but failed to produce it, that he “intentionally withheld information,” and that he “declined to provide testimony voluntarily and did not appear when subpoenaed.”

The report pointed to Gaetz’s public letter he published to X in September saying he would no longer voluntarily cooperate with the inquiry. The report said he wrote the letter after asking the committee for additional time to respond to written questions, and said he had an “uncooperative approach throughout the review.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 6 key takeaways from Matt Gaetz report released by Ethics Committee