Political nepo baby Matt Gaetz rose quickly to power in the House. It ended with a damning ethics report
There is “substantial evidence” that former congressman Matt Gaetz “regularly” paid women, including a high school student, for sex and spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex- and drug-fueled parties and travel, according to a damning report from members of Congress.
The long-anticipated report from a House Ethics committee investigation finds that Gaetz likely violated state laws against statutory rape and illicit drug use, as well as House rules against misconduct and abuse of office.
Between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him,” including making payments to a 17-year-old girl, the report says.
Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, “on multiple occasions,” according to the report, which was released Monday.
The former Republican representative was Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general of the United States, the most powerful law enforcement official in the country.
He resigned from Congress after he received the nomination, then dropped his name from the running for the top job at the Department of Justice amid renewed scrutiny and imminent release of the report.
The committee had been set to release the findings of its years-long probe last month, two days after Trump nominated Gaetz on November 13. His resignation effectively killed the investigation.
But lawmakers ultimately voted to release the report after all. The former congressman, who has denied all misconduct allegations, raged that “the people investigating me hated me” and gave him “no chance to ever confront any accusers.”
A former attorney in northwest Florida, Gaetz styled himself as a fighter for a “more open and transparent government.” In 2010, he was elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives to represent portions of Okaloosa and Santa Rosa county.
His father, Don Gaetz, is an influential political powerbroker and state lawmaker who once served as president of the Florida Senate.
Don Gaetz returned to the state legislature after winning a state Senate seat in November.
His son was elected to the House of Representatives in 2016, quickly earning a reputation as an outspoken far-right firebrand defending Trump’s first-term agenda.
He staunchly defended Trump during investigations into the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, which he described as a “hoax,” and during Trump’s two impeachments.
Alongside Trump cheerleader Marjorie Taylor Greene, Gaetz embarked on a nationwide “America First Tour” in 2021, in which the pair repeated debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and attacked Trump’s critics.
