The Daily Populous Monday December 23rd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by nypost.com and submitted by heisLegend

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz was allegedly found to have used illegal drugs like cocaine and ecstasy while paying for sex with multiple women — including a 17-year-old high school junior he had sex with in front of other people, according to a damning draft of the House Ethics Committee report.

The Florida Republican paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women between 2017 and 2020, 37-page report alleged. The Committee also divulged over 240 additional pages of evidence including text messages and transaction information to back up its claims.

“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,” it alleged.

3 An investigation into former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz found that he had paid for sex with multiple women, including a minor, used illegal drugs, and bought marijuana by email inside his Capitol Hill office. Samuel Corum/UPI / Shutterstock

“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,” it alleged.

Gaetz denied all of the allegations against him — and filed a lawsuit trying to block its official release, asserting he is now a private citizen outside the committee’s jurisdiction. However, his last-minute suit came after the report was already released to media outlets.

Gaetz, 42, resigned from Congress on Nov. 13 — hours after President-elect Donald Trump tapped him to be the next US attorney general — but sexual misconduct allegations and alleged drug-fueled parties from the congressional ethics probe and an earlier Justice Department investigation loomed large over his decision to withdraw from the confirmation fight.

The committee said that it received testimony indicating that at a party in 2017, Gaetz engaged in sexual acts with “Victim A,” who was just 17 years old and had recently completed her junior year in high school.

“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,” the committee wrote.

3 Gaetz speaks ahead of a visit by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during the AmericaFest 2024 conference sponsored by conservative group Turning Point in Phoenix, Arizona, on Dec. 22, 2024. REUTERS

“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age,” it said — stressing that the girl not telling him her age does not matter under Florida law.

However, the investigation did not think Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws.

Some of these sex allegations mentioned in the draft report had previously leaked to the media, particularly regarding his alleged sex with a minor. Joel Leppard, an attorney who represents another accuser who claims to have witnessed the act, publicly claimed that the witness’ “understanding was that Matt Gaetz did not know that [the 17-year-old] was a minor,” ABC News reported.

“And that when he learned that she was a minor … he broke off things and did not continue a sexual relationship until she turned 18.”

The former Sunshine State congressman went on a social media screed Monday railing against the scathing report contending that his actions were “clearly not prostitution under any conceivable definition.”

He posted images purporting to be snippets of the questions and answers from the ethics panel’s investigation showing one witness who denied engaging in sex work back in 2017 and another witness who indicated the $400 received from Gaetz was not discussed beforehand. None of those postings from Gaetz made clear which witnesses made which statements.

He denied the allegations, saying any payments were gifts to girlfriends and again noting that no charges had ever been brought.

“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 told Just the News.

He maintained that allegations 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 also denied using illicit drugs and having sex with a minor.

“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated — even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years,” Gaetz said.

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”

Among the report’s most shocking findings were allegations of drug- and sex-fueled parties, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where witnesses claimed he used ecstasy and had sexual encounters with four women.

The report indicated that the women who testified about their sexual encounters with Gaetz said it was consensual.

However, one noted that drug use at the parties might have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent,” while another said, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”

The committee also found that he allegedly took a prohibited free private plane ride back during that trip.

“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 also alleged 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.”

The report also allegedly found “substantial evidence” of Gaetz’s illicit drug use.

The committee said it obtained text messages alleging Gaetz would “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.’”

It alleged he “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 alleged.

Joel Greenberg, a Florida businessman and former friend of Geatz serving 11 years in jail after pleading guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the federal government, also spoke with the committee about on the former congressman’s alleged drug use.

“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,” the draft alleged.

3 A 37-page comprehensive investigative report by the House Ethics Committee found that the former Sunshine State congressman violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office. Getty Images

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

New accusation about helping sex partner get a passport

The investigation also found that Gaetz allegedly created a “pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.”

Greenberg also allegedly introduced Gaetz to a woman in 2018 — with the two having sex the night the night they met — and later helped her obtain a passport, according to the report.

“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,” the draft report alleged.

“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.

The draft memo accuses Gaetz of ethics violations by using his status as a congressman to help her get a passport and falsely claiming to the State Department that she was a constituent in his congressional district. That allegation was previously unknown to the public.

The ethics report also ripped into Gaetz for missing repeated deadlines to furnish key documents, at one point telling the panel that he would only fork over a batch of requested material “in-person at his district office.”

“Despite frequently suggesting he had insufficient opportunities to respond to the allegations against him, Representative Gaetz sent more than a dozen letters to the Chairman and Ranking Member throughout the Committee’s review,” the draft report said.

In May, the committee requested Gaetz make himself available for testimony and sent him a “fulsome list of allegations.” Gaetz later declared that he would no longer cooperate with the committee’s probe.

“While the Committee did not find documentary evidence that Representative Gaetz directly acted to prevent any woman from testifying before DOJ or the Committee, some women cited a fear of retaliation from the congressman when declining to speak on the record,” the draft report claimed.

The committee’s inquiry into Gaetz started in 2021 but was paused during a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation that revolved around him.

In February 2023, the Justice Department informed Gaetz that its investigation concluded without any charges against him, indicating a lack of evidence, and the Ethics Committee resumed its work around May of that year.

In October 2023, Gaetz successfully led a revolt to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), who later alleged that the Florida Republican led the mutiny because he wanted the ethics investigation ended and the speaker refused to intervene. Gaetz has denied that accusation.

Last month, the ethics panel came under pressure from lawmakers in both chambers of Congress to release its findings on Gaetz, despite it being unusual for the committee to divulge details on individuals who are no longer members of Congress.

Ultimately after deliberating internally for weeks, the House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release the findings of its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz.

The Republican-led Ethics Committee’s secret vote occurred sometime in December. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) publicly opposed the release of the report.

House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) penned a dissent on behalf of himself and other unnamed colleagues over the decision to release the report.

“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,” he wrote.

Now that he’s out of Congress, Gaetz is raking in some cash with his side hustle on Cameo, a platform where famous people sell videos to the public.

Gaetz is also slated to anchor a program on One America News Network starting next month.

Timpa87 on December 23rd, 2024 at 13:33 UTC »

BTW, Republicans were willing to cover this up while Trump had Gaetz nominated for Attorney General. They voted against releasing this while he was still a nominee. It wasn't until about 2 weeks after Gaetz withdrew his name for AG that they voted to release this.

liquidgrill on December 23rd, 2024 at 13:29 UTC »

Imagine waking from a 20 year slumber, reading this, then finding out that the incoming President of the United States named him as the nominee for Attorney Fucking General of the United States of America…….when all of this was already known.

MiddleAgedSponger on December 23rd, 2024 at 13:19 UTC »

When is he being charged with rape?