The House Ethics Committee concluded that there is “substantial evidence” that Matt Gaetz broke Florida’s statutory rape laws by repeatedly having sex with a 17-year-old, that he paid at least 15 women roughly $100,000 for sex acts, that he used illegal drugs including cocaine and ecstasy, that he improperly accepted gifts and that he knowingly impeded the House’s investigation.
The report, released Monday, tells a story of young women who were paid small amounts for sex, of women who were allegedly impaired during these acts, and of a Justice Department that failed a 17-year-old who allegedly had sex with a then-35-year-old congressman.
The report notes that “Victim A,” the 17-year-old girl at the heart of the report, having just finished her junior year of high school when she went to a drug-fueled party at Florida lobbyist Chris Dorworth’s house on July 15, 2017, “cooperated with DOJ’s investigation for years and was let down by the justice system when reports circulated that DOJ would be unlikely to pursue charges against Representative Gaetz.”
“There is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl,” the report said. “The Committee received credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation. Several of those witnesses have also testified under oath before a federal grand jury and in a civil litigation. Representative Gaetz denied the allegation but refused to testify under oath. He has publicly stated that Victim A ‘doesn’t exist’ and that he has not ‘had sex with a 17-year-old since I was 17.’ The Committee found that to be untrue and determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz had sex with Victim A in July 2017, when she was 17 years old, and he was 35.”
“Representative Gaetz’s actions were in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law,” the report continued.
Gaetz has denied allegations that he ever had sex with a minor or participated in child sex trafficking. When it became clear that the Ethics Committee’s report would be made public, Gaetz posted on X that, while he’s embarrassed by some past behavior, he never behaved illegally.
“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated — even some I never dated but who asked,” he posted on X. “I dated several of these women for years. 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.”
“My 30’s were an era of working very hard — and playing hard too,” he wrote.
The Department of Justice investigated Gaetz over sex trafficking allegations but never brought charges. Gaetz did not respond to NOTUS’ request for comment.
While the ethics report’s focus is Gaetz, detailing in the most complete fashion to date how he allegedly paid for sex and broke multiple laws, it also serves as a scathing indictment of the Department of Justice — the agency Gaetz was recently tapped to lead before he withdrew himself from consideration when it was clear he did not have support for confirmation.
“DOJ refused to provide the relevant statements and other significant evidence to the Committee,” the ethics report said. “DOJ cited internal policies about protecting uncharged subjects like Representative Gaetz, general concerns about how DOJ’s cooperation with the Committee may deter other victims in other matters, and various inapposite policies relating to congressional oversight of DOJ itself.”
But the committee noted that the DOJ’s “policy” about not sharing information on subjects it declines to prosecute is “inconsistent with DOJ’s historical conduct with respect to the Committee and its unique role in upholding the integrity of the House.”
“To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the report said, additionally noting that the DOJ ignored subpoenas from the House.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.
All the women that the committee interviewed stated their sexual activity with Gaetz was consensual, but “at least one woman felt that the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have ‘impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent,’” the report said. “Indeed, nearly every woman that the Committee spoke with could not remember the details of at least one or more of the events they attended with Representative Gaetz and attributed that to drug or alcohol consumption.”
Women also told the committee that there were instances when “Gaetz would try to convince them to have sex with him or Mr. Greenberg,” according to the report, referencing Gaetz’s onetime ally Joel Greenberg, who is now serving an 11-year sentence for sex trafficking, wire fraud and other convictions.
One woman told the ethics panel, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated,” according to the report.
“I think about it all the time,” the woman continued. “I still see him when I turn on the TV and there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies.”
The Ethics Committee directly referenced Gaetz’s public statements about the allegations.
“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. Such behavior is not ‘generosity to ex-girlfriends,’ and it does not reflect creditably upon the House,” the report stated, quoting one of Gaetz’s public statements minimizing his actions.
Congressional investigators found that Gaetz paid a key witness in this investigation $63,836 over three years, before the DOJ began its investigation — then paid another $50,025 for her lawyers.
That woman ultimately told prosecutors she didn’t see Gaetz committing the crimes they were investigating, according to a source who spoke to NOTUS on condition of anonymity. However, she later said in a subsequent civil lawsuit deposition that she was present at that drug-fueled sex party with Gaetz on July 15, 2017 — the same one attended by the 17-year-old girl.
That spending didn’t extend to all the young women in Gaetz’s life, according to the Ethics Committee’s report. The report notes how Gaetz and Greenberg were, at one point, short on cash and sought something akin to a frequent-flier discount.
“The committee also obtained text messages in which Representative Gaetz’s then-girlfriend informed some of the women who were typically paid for sex that ‘the guys [Representative Gaetz and Mr. Greenberg] wanted me to share that they are a little limited in their cash flow this weekend . . . [M]att was like[,] if it can be more of a customer appreciation week.’”
The committee cited texts “months later” in which Gaetz’s then-girlfriend indicated the congressman would make up for it.
“Btw Matt also mentioned he is going to be a bit generous cause of the ‘customer appreciation’ thing last time,” she texted, according to the committee’s report.
One of the women testified to the committee that Gaetz “would make me feel bad about not having sex with him or Joel Greenberg.”
The report also details how Gaetz’s activities may have intersected with other power players still on the national stage.
In one section, congressional investigators describe how Gaetz and Greenberg split the cost of “drugs, hotel[s], and girls” on a trip to South Florida in July 2017. Footnotes in the report point to a public tweet that shows how both men were hanging out with trusted Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone at the time.
Greenberg also plays a pivotal role in the ethics report, with the committee’s findings alleging that Greenberg acted as an intermediary for Gaetz.
On one occasion, the committee found that “Gaetz sent $400 to Mr. Greenberg with the note ‘Hit up [Victim A]’; Mr. Greenberg then sent two women payments totaling $400, including Victim A.”
The committee also reported that it “received evidence confirming that Representative Gaetz at times personally made payments to women who attended parties with him and Mr. Greenberg, using various peer-to-peer electronic payment services, as well as checks and cash,” the report said. “The Committee’s record also indicates that Mr. Greenberg sometimes paid women for having sex with Representative Gaetz and was sometimes reimbursed by Representative Gaetz.”
The report also alleges that Gaetz and Greenberg had group sex together.
Recounting a situation where Gaetz invited women to a hotel without their knowledge that other people would be present, a 20-year-old woman, a 21-year-old woman, Gaetz and Greenberg are alleged in the report to have all had sex together.
The 21-year-old woman, who had asked Gaetz for help with her college tuition, “recalled that Representative Gaetz agreed and told her to meet him at that hotel room, where he would provide her with a check, which, according to the woman, ‘was interesting because he had normally sent Venmo payments.’”
“When she arrived to pick up the check, she found Mr. Greenberg and the 20-year-old woman present,” the report continued. “The 21-year-old woman told the Committee there was an ‘expectation’ of a ‘sexual encounter.’ The four of them had sex and afterwards Representative Gaetz gave her a $750 check made out to cash with ‘tuition reimbursement’ in the memo line, which she deposited the next day to help pay her tuition.”
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,” according to the report, though Gaetz is also alleged to have requested drugs from many of the women.
“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,” the report said.
“Victim A” also told the committee she was on ecstasy during her sexual encounters with Gaetz on July 15, 2017. She also told the committee she “recalled seeing Representative Gaetz use cocaine at that party,” the report said.
“There is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz used cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana,” the report said. “At least two women saw Representative Gaetz using cocaine and ecstasy at different events.”
“There is also ample evidence that Representative Gaetz purchased and used marijuana; he appears to have set up a pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana,” the report said.
Ultimately, the committee found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz violated “House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
“Victim A” told the committee she was “certain” she had sex with Gaetz twice during a July party when she was 17 years old, “including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,” the report said. “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex.”
The report said Gaetz “generally denied” engaging in sexual activity with a minor but refused to answer specific questions related to his interactions with Victim A. Congressional investigators said Gaetz “routinely ignored or significantly delayed producing relevant information” requested by the committee. The committee also reported that they “had serious concerns that Representative Gaetz might retaliate against individuals who cooperated with the Committee.”
The 36-page report comes after a yearslong investigation into the former congressman.
Gaetz resigned from the House in mid-November, after securing a nomination to be Trump’s attorney general — just days ahead of when the Ethics Committee was set to vote on releasing the report. (Gaetz withdrew his nomination amid questions about the Ethics Committee probe.)
The Ethics Committee — a 10-person panel evenly split between parties — voted to release the report in a secret meeting earlier this month. Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting to make the findings public. At the end of the report, Republican Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest wrote that he did not support releasing the report.
“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 wrote.
Last week, Gaetz called on his allies in the House to help him seek revenge against his former colleagues. The Florida Republican floated requiring the disclosure of any House member who had sexual harassment settlements paid with public funds.
According to Politico, several GOP lawmakers are passing around a resolution to make that a reality.
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Reese Gorman and Jose Pagliery are reporters at NOTUS.