The House of Representatives Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz has been released, and this is what they found:
- From at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz “regularly” paid women for sex.
- From 2017 to 2019, Gaetz “used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.”
- Gaetz “accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.”
- In 2018, Gaetz had his chief of staff help a sexual partner obtain a passport, “falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.”
- Gaetz “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.”
One of Matt Gaetz’s claims in a letter he released before the report's release was that he never had an opportunity to respond to the allegations. One of the first exhibits was a letter addressed to Gaetz requesting he respond and/or provide any relevant information to the inquiry.
Dear Representative Gaetz: April 9, 2021
“The Committee on Ethics (Committee) is aware of allegations that you may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or
accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.
Pursuant 1 is the investigative authority under Rule XI Clause 3 of the
House of Representatives, and Committee Rule 18(a), the Committee has opened an investigation into these allegations.” The Committee will publicly announce its review today.
We request that you provide the Committee with a response to the allegations, along with any other information you believe may be relevant to this matter, within 14 days of the date of this letter. Please provide your response in writing, under oath or affirmation (we have enclosed a declaration for this purpose).
Your cooperation and assistance will help the Committee complete its review as expeditiously as possible. We thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Committee’s Staff Director and Chief Counsel, Tom Rust, at (202) 225–7103.
Sincerely,
Appendix A contains multiple requests for information from the Ethics Committee and several responses from Gaetz indicating they hadn’t demonstrated to him the need to open an investigation or provide any of the requested documents. Gaetz had the opportunity to make his case. He chose not to.
Appendix B Part 1 contains scanned copies of text messages between Matt’s “girlfriend” texting each other about having to track down the money Matt owed them for sex. There are also records of individual payments to women.
Part 2 contains text messages between Gaetz and a woman where they discuss meeting for sex and drugs, and in one case, the girl asks Matt to pay her $1,500 tuition for a class she can’t get financial aid for (he agrees).
The committee summarized its report by saying what they believe Matt Gaetz is guilty of, and in its 42-page report, they provided the receipts.
“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,”
My question is, with all this available evidence, why isn’t Matt Gaetz already in jail, and who is responsible?
We look first to the Justice Department, which failed to prosecute Gaetz because they deemed the witnesses unreliable. They had enough to send Gaetz’s wingman Joel Greenberg to jail based on much of the same evidence, and they purportedly had his testimony. They had testimony he had sex with a minor and her birth certificate. Case closed. Gaetz avoided prosecution because Merrick Garland was afraid to prosecute a sitting Congressman with a loud mouth in today’s political environment. It's arguably the same reason he waited until public information released by the J-6 committee forced his hand in charging Donald Trump with easily provable crimes like obstruction of justice.
Matt Gaetz paid for sex in the State of Florida, which is a crime. Gaetz paid over $11,000 to multiple women for sex and drugs several times in Florida. There are text messages scheduling the appointments and records of payment for sex and drugs. Certainly, Ron DeSantis knew about Gaetz’s behavior and decided that nothing should be done.
Members of Congress knew about Gaetz’s wrongdoing. We know this because they finally told us in their report. While they have no prosecutorial authority, they could have referred criminal charges to the DOJ or any states involved. They chose to do nothing and voted at least once not to release the report paid for by the public. This report likely saw the light of day because nobody in the House liked Gaetz. When Gaetz was nominated for U.S. Attorney General, several senators demanded to see the report that resulted in the withdrawal of his name.
We shouldn’t pay members of Congress, governors, or the DOJ to cover up the crimes of public officials. Gaetz is scheduled soon to become a news anchor for a pro-Trump news network. Maybe One America News Network will care about Gaetz’s criminal behavior; perhaps not. I urge everyone to read the report and form their own opinion.
This article originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium.