House Ethics Committee releases Matt Gaetz report
UPDATE (10:37 AM): According to NBC News, the House's long-awaited report on its investigation into former Represenative Matt Gaetz is now public.
The House Ethics Committee released the report Monday morning.
The investigation came to an end when Gaetz resigned from Congress in November.
An addendum to the report, filed by dissenting members, objected to the findings being made public, saying the House Ethics Committee lost jurisdiction to release the report when Gaetz resigned.
That addendum stopped short of changeling the committee's findings.
To view the report, click here.
UPDATE (8:32 AM): Former Congressman Matt Gaetz has filed a civil complaint in federal court, hoping to block the release of a scathing report from the House Ethics Committee.
A final draft obtained by CNN indicates the panel found evidence to suggest he may have paid women tens of thousands of dollars for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
In his civil complaint, he says he was not provided a copy of the report, notified of the panel's plans to release the report, nor given an opportunity to respond.
(CNN, KYMA/KECY) - The House Ethics Committee found evidence that former Congressman Matt Gaetz paid women tens of thousands of dollars for sex or drugs, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017.
That's according to a final draft of the panel's report on the Florida Republican.
The Republican-led panel chose to take the rare step of releasing a report about a former member who resigned from Congress.
Gaetz was President-Elect Donald Trump's first pick to be Attorney General, but he dropped out amid opposition from GOP senators and a news report of key details of this same ethics report.
It said there is substantial evidence he 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.
The committee alleged Gaetz violated Florida state laws, but it did not find he violated federal sex trafficking laws.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and he has pointed to the Justice Department declining to bring charges against him in 2023.
