House Ethics Committee says Matt Gaetz may have violated state laws on prostitution, statutory rape in final report

The House Ethics Committee’s final report on its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., found that he engaged in a long list of conduct that violates House Rules and some that are potentially criminal offenses at the state level.

The committee released its 42-page report Monday morning after a lengthy investigation. 

“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,” the report reads.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and on Monday, in a series of posts on X, denied paying for sex.

Gaetz vacated his seat in November, days before the report was expected to be made public and after President-elect Donald Trump announced him as his pick for U.S. attorney general. Gaetz withdrew his bid after more details on the Ethics Committee investigation and other allegations were reported.

House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest said Monday in a statement following the report's release that while he does not “challenge the Committee’s findings,” he did not vote to release the Gaetz report. 

“The decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the Committee’s long-standing practice and is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences," he said.

Trump's transition team and House Speaker Mike Johnson's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The committee outlined a significant amount of evidence that it says shows Gaetz, as a member of Congress, regularly engaged in sexual activity with women who he was also paying substantial sums of money. Committee investigators said they tracked more than $90,000 to 12 different women over a five-year period from 2017 to 2020. The Committee concluded the payments were likely connected to sexual activity and or drug use. 

Two women told the committee that Gaetz had paid them for sex, including a woman who said he paid a woman for sex at a small, invitation-only party in Florida, where prostitution is illegal, in 2017 while he was a member of the House, their lawyer told NBC News. Those women were of age at the time.

The same woman told the panel that, at the same party, she witnessed Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17 years old at the time.

The report also details a 2017 sexual encounter Gaetz was alleged to have had with a woman who was a junior in high school. The woman testified before the committee that she had sex with Gaetz twice at a party when she was 17. She also claimed to receive money from the then-congressman that she perceived to be a payment for sex. 

“The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees. 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,” the report reads. 

The woman told the committee that she did not tell Gatez she was underage and the committee also said it did not discover any evidence that Gaetz knew he was having sex with a minor.  

Lawyers for the accusers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While the committee concluded that Gaetz may be in violation of several state laws, it did not find conclusive evidence that Mr. Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws. Gaetz was the subject of a lengthy criminal investigation by the Justice Department, but prosecutors chose not to bring charges.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. A spokesperson for Washington, D.C, Attorney General Brian Schwalb declined to provide comment.

The report goes into detail about a 2018 trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas. The committee said it believe the trip violated House gift rules, citing the testimony of one woman who described the trip as payment for sex. The committee said Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with several women on the trip and one of the women on the trip said she saw Gaetz take ecstasy. 

Earlier Monday, in an attempt to prevent the report’s release, Gaetz sought a temporary restraining order against the House Ethics Committee and its chair, Michael Guest, calling for an injunction that would prevent their release of the expected report detailing the investigation into him.

“The Committee’s apparent intention to release its report after explicitly acknowledging it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to follow constitutional notions of due process, and failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedent represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections," Gaetz's lawyers said.

Prior to the report’s release, Gaetz had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, noting that a separate Justice Department probe into allegations of sex trafficking ended with no charges.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied having sex with anyone underaged or paying for sex.  

“I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued,” Gaetz wrote on X last week.

“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,” he continued in a lengthy post. “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.”

“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,” Gaetz wrote.

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News:

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