Trump ally Matt Gaetz 'regularly paid for drugs and sex while in office' ethics reports says

Matt Gaetz, one of Donald Trump's closest allies in Washington, has been accused of "regularly" paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and purchasing and using illicit drugs, all while serving in Congress.

The 37-page report by the bipartisan ethics committee includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and holidays that Gaetz, now 42, took part in.

The findings conclude that he violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.

Some of the findings of the report include:

• He "regularly" paid women for sex between 2017 and 2020.

• There is "substantial evidence" one of the women Gaetz slept with was 17 at the time.

• He used and possessed several drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy multiple times between 2017 and 2019.

• He arranged for a member of his staff to help a woman he was involved with sexually to obtain a passport, falsely indicating to the US Department of State that she was a constituent.

The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the “transactional nature” of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz baulked at a woman’s request that he send her money, “claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’”

Women interviewed by the committee said there was a “general expectation of sex,” the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 (£4,000) from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that “99% of the time” when she spent time with Gaetz “there was sex involved.”

However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature,” the committee said.

Gaetz hit out at the report after it was published following a failed last-minute legal bid by him to stop it being released.

Writing on social media he said: "Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?"

"There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses."

The report said there was "substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."

It highlights an incident in 2017 where Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee pointed to “credible testimony” from the now-woman herself as well as “multiple individuals” who corroborated the allegation.

The then-17-year-old told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 (£320) in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report.

There’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t how old she was.

The committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party.

But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee.

The report noted Gaetz said multiple times he would produce evidence that would "exonerate" him but never did so, instead choosing to "deflect, deter, or mislead" the committee.

The report's release comes after at least one Republican joined five Democrats on the panel earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report about their former colleague, despite initial opposition from politicians, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress.

While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, they are extremely rare. Gaetz has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, saying last week that he would have "no opportunity to debate or rebut" the findings as a former member of the House.

He served as a Congressman for Florida's first congressional district from 2017 until 2024 when he resigned shortly after Trump's election victory.

Despite comfortably winning reelection in his seat, he quit when Trump nominated him to become the US attorney general.

But days later he withdrew his name from consideration for the role after speculation about the contents of the committee's report grew.

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He had the opportunity to retain his seat after declining Trump's offer, but Gaetz decided to leave Congress.

On Monday, Gaetz filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to block the report’s release, saying it contains "untruthful and defamatory information" that would "significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community."

Gaetz’s complaint argued he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress.

"The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections," Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order.

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