The House Ethics Committee on Monday released a report summarizing its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned days before the report was originally scheduled to be released.
A woman told the committee that she saw Gates having sex with a minor at a party, his lawyer told NBC News last month.
Two additional women told the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex, including at small invite-only parties in Florida, where prostitution is illegal. This includes a woman who testified in 2017 that Gates was a member. House, their attorney told NBC News. Those women were adults at the time.
The same woman told the panel that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with her then-17-year-old friend at the same party.
Before the report was released, Gaetz had repeatedly denied wrongdoing, noting that a separate Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations ended without charges.
Early Monday morning, in an attempt to block the release of the report, Mr. Gates sought a temporary restraining order against the House Ethics Committee and its chairman, Michael Guest, from releasing the planned report detailing the investigation into him. sought an injunction to stop it.
“This action violates the commission’s own rules and is an unconstitutional and heinous attempt by the commission to exercise its jurisdiction over a private citizen by threatening to release an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations. “We object to these efforts,” Gates’ team wrote.
“Issuing a report with clear admission that the commission lacks jurisdiction over former members, fails to follow constitutional concepts of due process, and fails to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedents. The apparent intent to do so represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and precedents.”
“I have never had the opportunity to confront my accusers. I have never been charged. I have never been sued,” Gaetz wrote to X last week.
“When I was single, I often sent money to the women I dated, but there were also women who asked me to send money even though I had never dated them.I had dated several women for years,” he said. I continued with a long post. “I have never had sexual contact with anyone under the age of 18. Any claim I have will fail in court. That is why no such claim was made in court. ”My 30s were a time of hard work and hard play. ”
“It’s not a crime, but it’s shameful that I probably partied more than I should have, womanized, drank, and smoked early in life. I’m living a different life now,” Gates said. I wrote it.
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