Former U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands to women for drugs and sex, including with a 17-year-old, violating laws and House rules, a draft Ethics report reveals. Gaetz denies wrongdoing and sued to block the report's release after resigning last month.
The U.S. House Ethics Committee has concluded that former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for drugs and sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, U.S. media reported on Monday (23 December), citing a final draft of the panel's report.
Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, resigned from the House of Representatives last month after being selected by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as attorney general. He withdrew from consideration due to facing a challenging confirmation battle in the Senate.
In an effort to prevent the release of the report, expected on Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit on Monday in federal court in Washington, DC, against the Ethics panel, arguing that it no longer had jurisdiction after Gaetz resigned from Congress.
"The Committee's position regarding its lack of authority over former members represents a clear, well-established policy rather than an isolated interpretation," Gaetz's lawyers wrote in a complaint.
His lawyers sought an emergency order to temporarily block the publication of the report, which they argued would contain "untruthful and defamatory information" about Gaetz.
Reuters was not immediately able to contact Gaetz for comment.
The report found that Gaetz paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women, payments the Ethics panel determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and drug use, CBS News reported. CNN reported similar details of the draft report. Both outlets said his actions violated Florida state laws.
The panel's report concluded that Gaetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct banning prostitution, statutory rape, and drug use, CBS reported.
It also found "substantial evidence" that Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use, CBS reported. Additionally, it accused him of accepting gifts of luxury travel exceeding permissible limits during a 2018 trip to The Bahamas, CBS added.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety", but gave...
Palestinian group Hamas continues its patient approach to maintain it despite provocations, says Recep Tayyip Erdoğan....
Iconic playwright Sir Tom Stoppard has died surrounded by his family according to a statement released by his agents on Saturday....
The Government of Kazakhstan has condemned Ukraine’s latest drone strikes on a Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Russian Black sea....
China announced a sweeping inspection of fire-safety standards in high-rise buildings nationwide on Saturday after a deadly fire in Hong Kong left at ...
At least 47 people have died and another 21 are reported missing following ten days of heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides across Sri Lanka, local media reported on Thursday (27 November).
Hong Kong fire authorities said they expected to wrap up search and rescue operations on Friday after the city's worst fire in nearly 80 years tore through a massive apartment complex, killing at least 128 people, injuring 79 and leaving around 200 still missing.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier in the Latin American region on Thursday, amid a military buildup by President Donald Trump’s administration that has heightened tensions with Venezuela.
At least 153 people have been killed in Sri Lanka after landslides and flooding caused by Cyclone Ditwah, officials said on Saturday, with 191 others missing and more than half a million affected nationwide.
The Spanish agricultural sector has been placed on high alert following the confirmation that African Swine Fever (ASF) has resurfaced in the country for the first time in over thirty years.
Iconic playwright Sir Tom Stoppard has died surrounded by his family according to a statement released by his agents on Saturday.
Netflix crashed on Wednesday for about an hour in the U.S. as it launched season five of "Stranger Things", with the service becoming inaccessible to many subscribers within minutes of the episodes going live at 8 p.m. local time.
Iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo's painting 'El sueño (La cama)' sold for $54.7 million at a Sotheby's auction on Thursday, setting a new auction record for the artist and making it the most expensive work by a woman artist ever sold at auction.
Lewis Hamilton has dismissed suggestions of friction within Ferrari after team chairman John Elkann's recent comments that he and teammate Charles Leclerc should "focus on driving and talk less".
Germany has returned 12 royal-era cultural artefacts to Ethiopia in a ceremony in Addis Ababa, marking a formal step in ongoing cultural cooperation between the two countries.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment