BREAKING: Bombshell Gaetz Ethics Report Released
The party of family values strikes again
The Gaetz ethics report that Republicans repeatedly tried to hide was released today. Perhaps they chose Christmas week to bury the news but I will choose to view this as a small and well-deserved Christmas present from Congress. Thanks guys.
They voted on December 10, 2024 to release the report, though at the time said that it had not been finished yet.
Gaetz went so far as to file a lawsuit this morning to try to get a judge to issue an emergency order to block the release. It didn't work to even delay things because he filed it improperly. (He’s a lawyer!!)
Also, that’s not the kind of thing you do when trying to prove your innocence.
Not everyone is happy about the release.
Representative Michael Guest, Republican of Mississippi wrote in the report that he takes, “great exception that the majority deviated from the committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction, an action the committee has not taken since 2006.” Apparently he does not think the people deserve to know that they have evidence that a colleague is a rapist.
The Ethics Committee, which consists of 5 Republicans,5 Democrats and 7 staff, interviewed more than a dozen witnesses, issued 29 subpoenas and reviewed nearly 14,000 documents.
The investigation began in April of 2021 and then was put on hold at the request of the DOJ so that they could pursue their investigation. Another example of the Garland DOJ’s problem of adherence to procedure over justice. The committee said the “DOJ’s initial deferral request and subsequent lack of cooperation with the Committee’s review caused significant delays in the investigation.”
WHAT'S IN THE REPORT?
Statutory rape
On July 15, 2017 Gaetz attended a party where he had sex with multiple women (he bragged there were 6) including a 17 year old. “The woman told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 2017 party when she was 17.” The report also states, “Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex.100 At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school.” In the week leading up to this party, Gaetz withdrew at least $1,200 cash over three transactions.
This event happened at the home of former state legislator Christopher Dorworth. Dorworth sued this victim for defamation. “The former GOP lawmaker accused A.B. of conspiring with Greenberg and others to falsely “frame” Dorworth and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz of sexual misconduct in an attempt to mitigate Greenberg’s prison sentence.” The case was settled and dismissed.
Paying women for sex and drugs
The Committee “identified at least 20 occasions from the beginning of 2017 through the middle of 2020 where there was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz met with women who were paid for sex and/or drugs.” Seminole County tax collector Joe Greenberg would use SeekingArrangement.com to find young women with whom he and Gaetz could exchange money for sex.
“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” The below chart includes what they were able to track with electronic payments (ie: this list does not include cash payments.)
I thought it was interesting to see a girlfriend on this list (and wow, $63k!), but the report explains this by saying that she “asserted her Fifth Amendment right when asked whether the payments to her from Representative Gaetz were for sexual activity and/or drugs, or for her to pass those things on to others for such purposes. Based on that assertion combined with evidence received from other sources, the Committee found substantial reason to believe that most of these payments were for such activities.” This 2 year open relationship began when he was almost 35 and she was 21 years old.
This girlfriend likely served as an intermediary to other women.The committee obtained text messages of her telling the other women that Greenberg and Gaetz were short on cash and wanted a ‘customer appreciation week’ (ie, freebies) and a few months later said that Gaetz would be more “generous” because of the “customer appreciation thing last time.”
The report goes into detail about how while all women said the sex was consensual, it was not without coercion:
Illegal Drugs
Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions. Gaetz would also ask women to bring drugs for him to their rendezvous and give them money for it. One “woman said that she brought cocaine to at least one event with Representative Gaetz and that she witnessed him taking cocaine or ecstasy on at least five occasions.” The report states that “nearly every witness interviewed observed Representative Gaetz using marijuana.”
Improper use of office
Gaetz appeared to set up a “pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.”
In 2018, Representative Gaetz arranged for his Chief of Staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity the same night they met in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent. The woman was paid $1,000 by Greenberg but claims it was not for sex, it was to help with transportation to the Miami passport office.
Accepting gifts
On September 13, 2018, Gaetz went on a vacation to the Bahamas with two other men (who were associated with the medical marijuana industry), and six women. Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with at least four of the women on the trip. One woman said she witnessed Representative Gaetz taking ecstasy, and multiple people reported seeing him under the influence. He flew back on a private plane and another of the men paid for the vacation rental.
Gaetz claims he paid for meals and stuff - but there is no evidence of that. The report says he accepted gifts of transportation and lodging in excess of permissible amounts.
Obstruction
Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct. He didn’t produce documents when requested, didn’t respond to questions and didn’t cooperate at all.