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The House Ethics Committee gathered evidence that former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida paid multiple women for sex, including a 17-year-old high school junior,  used illegal drugs like cocaine end ecstasy and obstructed efforts by Congress to investigate his conduct, according to a draft of its findings obtained by Just the News.

“The Committee determined 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,” stated the draft of the report slated to be released  this week.

The draft report also said it did not find evidence that Gaetz had engaged in sex trafficking as some had alleged, concluding that all the women who traveled with Gaetz out of their home states did so voluntarily even if they accepted payments for sex.

The draft lays out sordid details of Gaetz’s alleged drug-fueled partying with young women based on interviews with those women and eyewitnesses, but saved some of its harshest criticisms for the former Florida Republican’s refusal to cooperate completely with the years-long ethics inquiry.

The draft report alleges that he refused to comply with a subpoena demanding an interview and sent only partial written answers, and that he “intentionally withheld information” about of his trip with women to the Bahamas and the fact that he took a prohibited free private plane ride back.

“Representative Gaetz clearly understood that he had acted contrary to House Rules by accepting private plane travel but chose to try to cover up his actions rather than comply with the Committee’s request,” the draft stated. 

“The Committee determined that Representative Gaetz’ attempts to mislead and deter the Committee from investigating him implicated federal criminal laws relating to false statements and obstruction of Congress,” it added. “Even if Representative Gaetz’s obstructive conduct in this investigation did not rise to the level of a criminal violation, it was certainly inconsistent with the requirement that Members act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House, in violation of House Rule XXIII., clause 1.”

The draft mentions the committee voted to adopt the findings on Dec. 10 and includes a dissent from the committee’s chairman objecting to its planned public release. Two sources confirmed the authenticity of the draft but cautioned the final version released to the public could have some changes, such as redactions.

Gaetz’ denials

In an interview with Just the News on Sunday night, Gaetz said he had not seen the draft but that the contents described to him were similar to what the committee had alleged to him in prior communications. He also forcefully denied any wrongdoing, insisting the payments to women were gifts to girlfriends from a wilder, younger time in his life.

“These were some women who I dated over the course of a decade, and had relationships with at various times and that I admittedly were generous to,” he said.

He emphasized the Biden Justice Department reviewed all the evidence and chose not to bring any criminal charges. He said he personally possessed evidence showing the woman cited in the report expressed affection for him, asked him out on dates, and asked him for financial help for items unrelated to sex.

In the draft, the former congressman is quoted as telling the committee he denied all of its serious allegations, saying his relationships and payments to women were because they were girlfriends to whom he bestowed gifts. Among his responses cited in the report, Gaetz told the committee:

  • Any suggestion he “may have engaged in sexual misconduct including violations of federal laws relating to sex trafficking and state laws relating to prostitution and statutory rape,” were “false” and that “[t]hese allegations were investigated by the Department of Justice and the investigation was completely dropped”;  
  • He denied the allegations that he used illicit drugs;
  • He denied having sex with the minor, suggesting the allegation was “manufactured” by noncredible witnesses. “Your correspondence of September 4 asks whether I have engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18. The answer to this question is unequivocally NO. You can apply this response to every version of this question, in every forum,” he wrote the committee; and
  • Regarding the payments to women, he declared “someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward.”

Gaetz resigned his seat early in November and was named briefly to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general before fresh controversy about the House Ethics Committee inquiry led him to withdraw his name from consideration.

The draft report addresses the unusual circumstances of Gaetz resigning before the inquiry begun in 2021 was ended and said that a majority of the House Ethics Committee, though not all, voted to release the findings despite the lawmaker’s resignation because they believed doing so was in the public interest.

The last time House Ethics released a report about a former member’s conduct was 2006, when it released a report about misconduct involving House pages that involved both current and former members.

The draft includes a dissenting statement from Chairman Michael Guest and others who voted against the report’s release.

“While we do not challenge the Committee’s findings, we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006,” Guest’s statement said.

“Representative Gaetz resigned from Congress, withdrew from consideration to serve in the next administration, and declared that he would not seek to be seated in the 119th Congress,” it added. “The decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the Committee’s long-standing practice, opens the Committee to undue criticism, and will be viewed by some as an attempt to weaponize the Committee’s process.”

Commercial sex transactions alleged

The draft’s salacious contents about drugs, sex and money suggest that Gaetz’ confirmation – had he proceeded with the attorney general nomination— would have left plenty of fodder for difficult questions.

The committee concluded that despite Gaetz’ denials, the former lawmaker had engaged in commercial sex transactions and drug use, at least from 2017 to 2020.

“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report stated. “Payments were made to these women using peer-to-peer payment platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp.

“While Representative Gaetz had accounts in his name on each of those platforms, he also sometimes paid women through another person’s PayPal account, or through an account held under a pseudonymous e-mail account. Representative Gaetz also paid some of the women by check or in cash,” it continued.

“Most of the sex-for-money encounters that the Committee reviewed occurred in Florida, particularly around Orlando.  Several of the women involved were students based in that area.  On several occasions, however, Representative Gaetz did travel with women that he paid for sex,” it added. 

The committee’s evidence included text messages and extensive testimony from the women allegedly paid for sex as well as statements from a former friend, Joel Greenberg, a Florida businessman and former Seminole County tax collector who was sentenced to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the federal government 

“Text messages obtained by the Committee show that Representative Gaetz would also ask women to bring drugs to their rendezvous, in some instances requesting marijuana cartridges and repaying the women directly, but in other cases requesting ‘a full compliment [sic] of party favors,’ ‘vitamins,’ or ‘rolls,’” the report stated. “Representative Gaetz sent one woman several hundred dollars for marijuana cartridges..”

“Another woman said that 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,” it added. “Mr. Greenberg told the Committee that he would typically provide drugs, such as ecstasy, for events he attended and Representative Gaetz would pay him back in cash. Several other women observed Representative Gaetz to be under the influence of drugs. Additionally, nearly every witness interviewed observed Representative Gaetz using marijuana.”

Sex with high school junior

The draft’s most explosive allegation was that at a summer 2017 party that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old minor, an act the report concluded violated Florida’s statutory rape law even though the girl said she never told Gaetz her age.

“The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at the party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid,” it said, identifying the 17-year-old as “Victim A.”

“The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,” the draft report alleged. “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex.  At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school.  Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.  The Committee did not receive any evidence indicating that Representative Gaetz was aware that Victim A was a minor when he had sex with her.”

“Victim A acknowledged that she was under the influence of ecstasy during her sexual encounters with Representative Gaetz at the July 15, 2017, party, and recalled seeing Representative Gaetz use cocaine at that party,” the draft added. Victim A told the Committee she was ‘certain’ of her sexual encounters with Representative Gaetz on that night.  As discussed further below, Representative Gaetz generally denied engaging in sexual activity with a minor but refused to answer specific questions relating to his interactions with Victim A.”

The draft report stated that the fact that Gaetz did not know the girl’s age does not matter under Florida statutes.

“Under Florida’s statutory rape law, it is a felony for a person 24 years of age or older to engage in sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old,” the draft stated. “A person charged with this offense may not claim ignorance or misrepresentation of the minor’s age as a defense.”

The draft memo also accused Gaetz of two other ethics violations.

The first involved using his official office to help one of the women he had partied with get a passport, falsely claiming to the State Department that she was a constituent in his congressional district.

“In early 2018, Representative Gaetz met a woman through Mr. Greenberg; the same night they met, they had sex and Mr. Greenberg sent her money,” the draft alleged. “At that first meeting, the woman also told Representative Gaetz she needed a new passport for an upcoming trip.  She did not initially know Representative Gaetz was a congressman, but he connected her with his then-Chief of Staff, who worked with the State Department’s congressional liaison to secure a passport appointment for the woman within days of their first meeting. 

“An individual from the Department of State, Miami Passport Agency sent the Chief of Staff an email confirming “an appointment for your constituent,” which the Chief of Staff then forwarded to the woman, who lived in Orlando, Florida—outside of Representative Gaetz’ congressional district,” it added.

Inappropriate gift of travel

“The woman acknowledged to the Committee that the money she received from Mr. Greenberg was sent on behalf of Representative Gaetz but denied that the money was compensation for their sexual encounter,” the draft continued. “Instead, she said the $1,000 she received from Mr. Greenberg was to assist her with transportation costs to go to the Miami passport office from Orlando  The woman spent $195 to obtain her new passport prior to her trip—a standard $60 fee for an in-person appointment, plus $135 for the passport.  She continued to meet up with Representative Gaetz on other occasions, during which they engaged in sexual activity.”

The draft report also accused Gaetz of accepting an inappropriate gift of travel related to one of his trips with the women.

“There is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz received impermissible gifts in connection with his travel to the Bahamas in September 2018,” the draft report said. “Specifically, Representative Gaetz accepted travel via a private plane and other travel costs.

“Contrary to Representative Gaetz’ claims that he provided ‘substantial’ evidence to the Committee ‘demonstrating his innocence’ on this allegation, he provided no evidence showing how he paid for any travel costs other than his flight to the Bahamas, despite being given multiple opportunities to do so,” it added.