Goetz paid “tens of thousands” for sex and drugs, the ethics report said

Former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex and drugs while serving as a US congressman, according to a long-awaited report from the House Ethics Committee.

It followed a years-long investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and drug use by Goetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump wanted to make the nation’s top lawmaker.

The committee also found evidence that Goetz, 42, received gifts in excess of what was allowed in connection with a trip to the Bahamas in 2018.

The former deputy has repeatedly denied guilt, saying that he was the victim of a slander campaign. Amidst the controversy, he resigned as US Attorney General.

The Congressional Ethics Report found that “there is substantial evidence that Rep. Goetz violated House rules and other rules of conduct that prohibit prostitution, statutory rape, the use of illegal drugs, unauthorized gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”

Between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz made payments totaling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 different women “whom the Committee determined were likely to be related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report said.

Additionally, the report includes evidence that Goetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party in 2017, giving her $400 “which she understood to be payment for sex.” Getz denied having sex with a minor.

The Justice Department also investigated allegations that he had sex with a minor, but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.

Goetz filed a last-minute court order Monday for a temporary restraining order to prevent the report from being released. He accused the ethics committee of trying to exercise its jurisdiction over a private citizen.

The committee’s 42-page report accuses Goetz of being “uncooperative” throughout the proceedings and that he frequently “dismissed, restrained or misled” the group “to prevent exposure of his actions.”

Despite the summons, he never appeared before the commission to testify.

Goetz represented Florida’s first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, coming to power in the same 2016 election that propelled his ally Trump to the White House for the first time.

Goetz married his now-wife Ginger in 2021, who supported the former Florida congressman when he faced allegations.

She posted a photo of her husband on X with the caption “unemployment never looked so good” after he withdrew his name to serve as attorney general after leaving Congress.

Gayets He was thought to be out of the committee’s reach when he resigned from Congress last month after Trump nominated him to be the US attorney general, America’s top law enforcement official who heads the Justice Department.

Trump chose Goetz in part because he is an ultra-loyalist who has also vowed to take on a “weaponized” legal system that supporters say has been targeted at Trump.

He has been one of Trump’s fiercest defenders on Capitol Hill. But many Republicans in Congress, including those tasked with voting on such nominations, were horrified by the choice and successfully challenged it.

Goetz dropped out just eight days after being nominated by Trump amid heated controversy. Trump then nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his nominee for attorney general.

Trump has yet to comment on the report’s findings.

While it’s unusual for the committee to release its findings after a lawmaker leaves public office, the report said a “majority” of members felt it was in the public interest to do so in this case.

An intense debate erupted over whether to release the report, especially after Goetz withdrew his name from consideration for the Justice Department job.

He said he hoped to avoid “an overly protracted Washington fight.”

Goetz’s planned role as attorney general was one that required confirmation by U.S. senators, and he did not appear to have the necessary support.

The secretive Ethics Commission has been investigating Goetz since 2021 – not only on sex and drug allegations, but also on allegations of bribery and misuse of company funds. In all cases, he categorically denied his guilt.

House Republicans previously blocked efforts by Democrats to release the report’s findings, but two of them later voted to do so, CBS reported.

On Monday, Goetz posted on X that the committee decided to release the report closer to Christmas “rather than in any courtroom where I could present evidence and call witnesses.”

Last week, he posted that the ethics committee was planning to “publish a report online that I am not in a position to discuss or refute as a former member of that body.”

In a previous post on X, he admitted that his 30s had been a period of “very hard work – and also very hard play”.

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

Several House Democrats criticized their former colleague and Trump for choosing him as an ally.

Representative Glenn Ivey, one of five Democrats on the ethics committee, said the allegations against Gaetz show that Trump is not “putting people in positions who are really capable of doing the job.”

“President-elect Trump should have thought twice before nominating Matt Gaetz, and some of the other nominations he’s made, I think, will also need to be reconsidered,” he told CBS News, the BBC’s US affiliate.

After leaving Congress, Goetz signed a deal to become an anchor for One America News Network (OAN). He will join the conservative news network in January.

It also started selling personalized video messages on the Cameo video platform.