Matt Gaetz accused of paying for sex and using drugs by US congressional panel

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Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s former pick for US attorney-general, was accused by lawmakers of having sex with an underage girl, paying women for sex and using illegal drugs in an explosive report published on Monday.

The House of Representatives ethics committee found “substantial evidence” that the former Republican lawmaker had violated not only Congressional rules, but also state and federal laws. 

“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 favours or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” the panel concluded.

Gaetz, a fierce Trump ally who has been considered a potential Florida gubernatorial and Senate candidate, has denied any wrongdoing, and posted on X that he was not charged after an earlier investigation into sexual misconduct by the Department of Justice.

Last week he wrote: “I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me . . . I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18.

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanised, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”

The controversial 42-year-old was picked by president-elect Trump to be his attorney-general in mid-November despite having limited legal experience, sending shockwaves through Washington.

Just days later Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration, saying his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition”, referring to the president-elect’s pick for vice-president, JD Vance.

Trump later picked former Florida state attorney-general Pam Bondi to replace Gaetz.

In its report the committee alleged that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz made payments to women worth tens of thousands of dollars that “were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use”.

In one instance, Gaetz in 2017 allegedly paid a 17-year-old for sex at a party, according to her understanding of the cash transaction. The committee wrote that she had just finished her junior year of high school and was under the influence of ecstasy during her sexual encounters with Gaetz. There was no evidence that the ex-lawmaker was aware she was a minor, it added. 

A year later, Gaetz allegedly joined a trip to the Bahamas with two other men and six women — a gift that was “in excess of permissible amounts”, the report said.

The former congressman allegedly engaged in sexual activity with at least four of the women. While none received payments specifically for the excursion, one woman told the committee that “the trip itself was more so the payment”.

All the women interviewed by the committee said their sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual. But one said that the use of drugs may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent”, while another said: “[W]hen I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”

The report alleged that witnesses also saw Gaetz consume marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy.

In 2018, the former representative allegedly arranged for his chief of staff to help a woman with whom he had sex to acquire a passport, falsely declaring to the Department of State that she was a constituent. The chief of staff has been approached for comment.

Some Trump allies have rallied behind the former congressman in the wake of the report. “Matt Gaetz must return to Congress as a conquering hero on the shoulders of the people,” the president-elect’s former strategist Steve Bannon wrote on X.