Gaetz Facing Firestorm After House Ethics Report Released

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) surely thought the Ethics Committee report would be buried once he resigned from his seat, but that was not the case.

The report was released this week, and it has created quite the buzz on social media.

The Report

Local police had investigated every allegation in the report, but prosecutors decided not to file charges.

As we all know, however, congressional reports are not subject to the same guidelines as a courtroom, and the report was a scathing rebuke against Gaetz's alleged behavior.

The report documented money trails to a former Gaetz associate who was found guilty in 2022 and sentenced to more than a decade in jail.

The money was allegedly used to pay for prostitutes and drugs, all of which Gaetz denied.

The ‘Evidence’

The report called out Gaetz right out of the gate, stating, “The committee concluded there was substantial evidence that Representative 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.”

The report goes on to explain the alleged interaction between Gaetz and a 17-year-old girl, stating, “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school.

“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age. The Committee did not receive any evidence indicating that Representative Gaetz was aware that Victim A was a minor when he had sex with her.”

Gaetz responded, “These claims would be destroyed in court — which is why they were never made in any court against me.”

Dangerous Departure

Some Republicans are defending Gaetz and ripping the committee for leaking the report. For instance, a group of lawmakers collectively stated, “Representative Gaetz resigned from Congress, withdrew from consideration to serve in the next administration, and declared that he would not seek to be seated in the 119th Congress. The decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the Committee’s long-standing practice, opens the Committee to undue criticism, and will be viewed by some as an attempt to weaponize the Committee’s process.

“We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional bounds set forth by House Rules and Committee standards, especially when making public disclosures, is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences.”

I have seen people online who will not even entertain the report because of how the Hunter Biden laptop story was dismissed, but for purposes of this report, that is irrelevant.

I know that the DOJ never pressed charges against Gaetz, but from what I have seen of that report, he is far from innocent. My recommendation is and has been for Trump to cut ties because Gaetz is just a ticking time bomb that will come back to ruin him if he doesn’t. That may not be a popular opinion, but the money trail, to me, is just far too damning not to believe the allegations. Gaetz is a problem, in my opinion.