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An ethics report says it found “substantial evidence” Trump ally Matt Gaetz paid for sex and drugs while in office, including with a 17-year-old girl.

Here is what to know about the release by the House Ethics Committee:

• Gaetz paid “tens of thousands of dollars” to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use”

• One woman – referred to as Victim A in the report – said she had sex with Gaetz twice at the age of 17 and received $400 (£320) from him

• Gaetz, who was a former Trump nominee for attorney general, was found to have violated multiple state laws including engaging in commercial sex and violating Florida’s satutory rape law

• The report also claims the former Florida congressman used or possessed illegal drugs
• Gaetz has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a smear campaign

• Many of Gaetz’s allies have not yet reacted to the report

• The justice department previously investigated a claim Gaetz had sex with a minor but did not file any criminal charges against him

• BBC’s US State Department Correspondent, Tom Bateman, writes the committee’s findings “put a fresh spotlight on Donald Trump’s decision to pick Gaetz for attorney general”

You can read more of our coverage of the report here.

Though Gaetz may not be a familiar name to those outside of the US - or those not keen on politics - this report is a significant moment in the lead up to Donald Trump's inauguration on the 20 January.

Gaetz, a lawyer, has been one of Trump’s most strident defenders on Capitol Hill.

He helped the president-elect prepare for his televised debate against Joe Biden that effectively knocked the Democrat out of the White House race.

Gaetz was nearly the government's top lawyer, after being selected by Trump - a brief, albeit significant nomination.

Although he resigned as a lawmaker after the Trump nomination, he recently announced plans to become an anchor on a conservative news network - and hinted that he might run for different political offices, including Marco Rubio's Florida senate seat if that becomes available.

• Read more about Gaetz: The rise and fall of Matt Gaetz in eight wild days

Gaetz left Washington last month after resigning from Congress, but over the weekend he floated a few options for a potential next job.

While speaking at the Turning Point Action conference in Arizona over the week, Gaetz suggested he might run for different political offices including the Florida senate seat that will be left vacant by Marco Rubio if he's approved as the nation's top diplomat.

"It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States senate, maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States senate and join some of those folks," Gaetz said.

Gaetz also suggested he may throw his hat into the ring to become the next governor of Florida.

Image source, Getty Images

We can now bring you some insight from the House Ethics Committee, as our US partners CBS News have just spoken with one of its members, Rep Glenn Ivey (D-MD).

Ivey says the committee's investigation has exposed new evidence that could change the US Department of Justice (DoJ)'s decision not to file charges against his former colleague Matt Gaetz.

"The Department of Justice took a look and decided not to proceed with federal charges, we do have some additional information in there that might be of interest to them," Ivey says.

He adds: "I'm sure the Department of Justice will take a look at that and see if it's sufficient or useful to them and maybe reconsidering whether they should move forward with their investigations or not."

• For context, the DoJ previously investigated claims that Gaetz had sex with an underage woman and violated sex trafficking laws but ultimately chose not to file any criminal charges

If you're just joining us, here are five big takeaways from the House Ethics Committee released today on former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz's alleged misconduct:

1. Gaetz allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on some 20 occasions
2. The committee report found "substantial evidence" that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl
3. Gaetz allegedly broke a handful of laws including engaging in commercial sex
4. The one-time Florida congressman was “uncooperative throughout the Committee’s review” and refused to appear for questioning
5. At least one woman interviewed told the committee that the use of drugs at the parties they attended may have "impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent"

Gaetz denies any wrongdoing and says "the people investigating me hated me"

You can read the full report here, external.

As we reported earlier, the US House Ethics Committee lost jurisdiction to continue its investigation once Gaetz resigned from his House seat on 14 November.

Because of this, the committee would typically refrain from releasing such a report but decided to do so after the majority of its members determined it was in the public interest. As a reminder, the committee is made up of five Democrats and five Republicans.

Several committee members voted against the report's release, and have said the decision "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."

Though they do not challenge the report's findings, the dissenting members said its release is a "dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences".

In the hours since the Gaetz report was released, much of Trump-world - which Gaetz is closely alligned with - has been mum.

We haven't heard from the president-elect on the matter and we haven't heard from any of his close allies either.

Meanwhile Gaetz has defended himself in a handful of social media posts saying in part: "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".

Image source, Getty Images

Glenn Ivey, one of the five Democrats who sit on the ethics committee, has been speaking about the impact of the Matt Gaetz report.

Ivey tells our colleagues at CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, that Donald Trump's team was “caught flat footed” when they faced extensive backlash after Gaetz was nominated to be the next attorney general.

“They hadn't vetted these guys, and they didn't know that this kind of information was there,” he says.

He goes on to suggest Trump needs to ensure "he's putting people in those positions who are really up to doing the job".

"This was a pretty ugly report... President-elect Trump should have thought twice before he nominated Matt Gaetz and some of the other nominations he's made, I think would bear reconsideration as well," he adds.

What does the release of the Gaetz report mean for Trump?published at 18:38 Greenwich Mean Time 23 December 2024

18:38 GMT 23 December 2024

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

The committee’s findings put a fresh spotlight on Donald Trump’s decision last month to pick Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.

Gaetz ultimately withdrew amid the groundswell of controversy (after also having resigned his Congressional seat to stand for the role), but it means the president-elect wanted a politician subject to serious allegations of underage sex and drug use - claims that were widely known about - to become the most senior law officer in the United States.

There will be a limit to how far it will lead to further meaningful questions about Trump’s judgement, in the way it might do a more conventional politician, given his deliberately combative style and perceived electoral mandate to disrupt the Washington system.

He picked Gaetz because he was an ultra-loyalist who had also pledged to take on a “weaponised” legal system which supporters believe targeted Trump.

But many Republicans in Congress were aghast at the choice at the time, and successfully challenged it.

Trump has also suffered a degree of defiance from his own party in the past week over a government shutdown vote, showing even before he’s started that he isn’t always getting his way.

More details now from the report into Matt Gaetz.

The ethics committee found evidence Gaetz “dispensed special privileges and favours” to people with whom he had a personal relationship.

The report claims Gaetz arranged for his Chief of Staff to help a woman – that he had engaged in sexual activity with - in obtaining a passport. Gaetz did this by “falsely indicating” that the woman was a constituent, according to the committee.

The report reads: “The Committee found substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz used the power of his office to assist a woman with whom he was engaged in a sexual relationship in obtaining an expedited passport".

"The woman was not his constituent, and the case was not handled in the same manner as similar passport assistance cases."

We can now bring you more details on "Victim A", who told the Ethics Committee she and Gaetz had sex when she was underage.

The then-17-year-old said she had sex with Gaetz twice during a party in 2017 and received $400 (£320) from him - which she "understood to be payment for sex".

She said Gaetz didn't ask her for her age, and she didn't tell him she was 17. The committee says it didn't receive any evidence that suggested he knew she was a minor.

The woman, who had just finished her junior year of high school at the time, said she was under the influence of ecstasy during her encounters with Gaetz at the party, but was "certain" of the events.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied these allegations. He refused to answer the committee's specific questions related to Victim A, the report says.

He incorrectly stated that he had been "exonerated" by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the report says, after the DoJ decided not to charge him following an investigation of his involvement with the minor.

The Ethics committee found Gaetz broke several House of Representative rules.

Here's what the report says:

• Gaetz allegedly used illicit drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, breaking the House code of ethics and officials conduct by providing drugs to others.
• Gaetz allegedly violated House gift rules too when he accepted private plane and travel payment for a trip to the Bahamas.
• Gaetz allegedly dispensed special favours to a woman he was in a relationship with including using the power of his office to get a woman he was engaged in a sexual relationship with an expedited passport.
• Gaetz allegedly tried to obstruct the investigation into his wrongdoing by continuing to "deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed"

Gaetz is no longer a member of the House of Representatives, he resigned his position when Donald Trump nominated him for the Attorney General role. He has since stood down from that nomination also.

The House Ethics Committee's report found "substantial evidence" former lawmaker Matt Gaetz broke three laws.

Gaetz has not been charged with any of these allegations and he has denied any wrongdoing.

Here's what the report says:

• Gaetz engaged in commercial sex, paying women for sex which violates Florida state law
• Gaetz violated Florida's statutory rape law by engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old
• Gaetz used illegal drugs including cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana from 2017 to 2020

The report says Gaetz did not violate federal sex trafficking laws, with the committee finding at the times he was accused of paying women to travel for commercial sex, the women were over the age of 18

Image source, Getty Images

Back to the contents of the Ethics Committee report now. In one section, Gaetz is described as being “uncooperative throughout the Committee’s review” and refusing to appear for questioning.

"He provided minimal documentation in response to the Committee’s requests. He also did not agree to a voluntary interview,” the report reads.

"Gaetz continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed," the report says.

The committee added Gaetz did not submit his testimony despite a subpoena being issued.

In the absence of this, the former congressman was sent a set of written questions. Gaetz, however, issued a response publicly and asserted he would “no longer voluntarily participate” in the investigation.

The report goes on to say Gaetz had frequently suggested he had insufficient opportunities to respond to the allegations, but during that time he also sent "more than a dozen letters to the Chairman and Ranking Member".

The report says Gaetz had claimed the committee was "weaponized" against him.

Image source, Getty Images

In its report, the US House Ethics Committee says it lost jurisdiction to continue the investigation once Matt Gaetz resigned from his House seat shortly after being nominated by Trump to become attorney general.

The committee hasn't typically released findings after losing jurisdiction in a matter, the report says, but it did so in this case after determining it was in the public interest.

It says it was not a decision taken "lightly".

The committee adds that members voted on whether to release the report on 10 December - and although "several" members did not support its release, the majority voted in favour.

The House ethics committee is made up of five members from the Republican Party, and five members from the Democratic Party.

While all of the women who were interviewed by the committee said their sexual activity with Gaetz was consensual, not all of them felt comfortable with their interactions, the report states.

At least one woman interviewed told the committee that the use of drugs at the parties they attended may have "impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent".

And nearly every woman told the committee they couldn't remember the details of one or more events they attended with Gaetz. They attributed that to alcohol or drug consumption.

Women told the committee Gaetz would try to convince them to have sex with him or his former friend Joel Greenberg.

"[H]e would make me feel bad about not having sex with him or Joel Greenberg," one woman told the committee. Another woman told the committee that when she revisited certain moments she felt "violated".

Within the House Ethics Committee report there is a full page of transactions that show Gaetz paying 12 women and Greenberg large sums of money.

Between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid an unnamed woman, a former girlfriend, more than $63,000, the report says.

Because Gaetz was in a relationship with this woman, the committee said they believed some of the payments made to her may be of "legitimate nature".

While testifying she asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to answer further questions such as whether or not the payments were for sexual activity or drugs, the committee notes.

Despite that the committee said they found "substantial reason to believe that most of these payments were for such activity".

Besides the payments made to his former girlfriend, the committee said they believed many of the payments made to the 12 women and Greenberg were made in connection with sexual activity and illicit drug use but they could not quantify the amount.

Image source, Getty Images

We're still reading through the report into former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz's alleged misconduct.

The report states that between 2017-2020, Gaetz paid "tens of thousands of dollars" across at least 20 occasions to women that the committee determined "were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use".

The report states many of the women interviewed "were clear that there was a general expectation of sex" and text messages show Gaetz would ask the women "to bring drugs to their rendezvous".

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 reads.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.

One section of the report narrows in on Gaetz's relationship with his former friend Joel Greenberg.

Greenberg and Gaetz attended parties with women who were invited by Greenberg using a website. The site connected older men and younger women who were seeking "mutually beneficial relationships".

Women interviewed by the committee said the website was widely understood to be and exchange of companionship for money, "at minimum," according to the report.

The committee said it learned that Greenberg and Gaetz would split the costs of the women, the hotels and the drugs from these interactions.

In addition the committee said Gaetz individually paid women to attend parties.

Greenberg was indicted on charges including sex trafficking of a child. He co-operated with officials and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Image source, EPA

In its report, the House Ethics Committee says it found "substantial evidence" that:

• From at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz "regularly" paid women for sexual activity, and engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl in this period
• He used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019
• He accepted gifts in excess of permissible amounts in connection to a 2018 Bahamas trip
• He arranged for his chief of 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
• He "knowingly and wilfully sought to impede and obstruct" the committee's investigation and acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the House

Gaetz has repeatedly denied all allegations against him and rejected the report's findings earlier today.