Perfectly Fine, Normal Behavior In MAGA-World
The 37-page Ethics Committee on-again-off-again report on Gaetz leaked last night. There was nothing in it that we hadn’t all read before, just a context Kevin McCarthy very much wanted for the historical record: “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.” That’s pretty strong— but nothing that would keep a Republican politician from winning primaries in any state and general election in brain-dead ones like… Florida, where Gaetz was teasing runs for governor or senator yesterday.
A classic definition of statutory rape: “The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at [a 2017 Florida] party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid. … Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
Yesterday, Trump was still calling him out from a stage as a friend at a MAGA rally, saying he has a big career ahead. CNN was first out of the gate in the wee hours with a report by Michael Kaplan, noting that Gaetz is still denying any improper conduct and asserting “the claims were a ‘smear’ invented by his political enemies. The committee said the congressman refused to sit for sworn testimony, though he did submit written answers to some of the committee's questions.”
Among the report's most lurid findings were the allegations of sex- and drug-fueled parties and travel, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where witnesses say he took ecstasy and had sex with four women.
"From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz [from a wealthy, corrupt Florida family] made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use," noted the report, which lists payments totaling more than $90,000 to 12 different women.
…The report noted that while all the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual, one woman told the committee the use of drugs at the parties and events they attended may have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.”
Another woman told the committee, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
The report found “substantial evidence” Gaetz engaged in rampant illicit drug use. The committee said it obtained text messages he sent where he referred to drugs as “party favors,” “rolls” or “vitamins.” It also said he created a fake email from his Capitol Hill office “for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.” The report noted that Gaetz had denied using illicit drugs in his written answers to the committee.
In addition to sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, the report also accused Gaetz of accepting gifts of luxury travel in excess of permissible limits with the 2018 trip to the Bahamas. And, it said he arranged for his chief of staff to assist a woman with whom he had engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the State Department that she was one of his constituents.
Gaetz told conservative personality Charlie Kirk last month that he plans to spend the coming years “fighting for President Trump.”
“I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress,” Gaetz said, though last week, he floated in a post on Twitter the idea of returning to participate in the election for House speaker.
The House Ethics Committee had initially voted to keep the report under wraps, but reversed course in a secret vote earlier this month. Two Republican members of the committee were among those who voted for its release, according to two sources familiar with the vote. The committee has 10 members, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.
UPDATE:
Gaetz sued the Ethics Committee this morning to prevent the release of the report. Too late; the report is officially out now for ll the world to see and be sickened by.
I have been a member of the FL Bar for 41 years. My son was recently admitted to it as well.
As of this morning, Matt Gaetz's FL Bar listing indicates that he has has no disiciplinary history against his law license in the past 10 years:
https://www.floridabar.org/directories/find-mbr/profile/?num=48962
As every 1L learns in torts--Res Ipsa Loquitor.