A report claims a Trump ally spent thousands on drugs and sex, including with a minor, raising serious ethical concerns and legal implications.
Washington, DC: So, there’s this wild report about Matt Gaetz, a big Trump supporter. It says he paid a ton of cash for drugs and sex, even with a 17-year-old girl. Yikes, right?
Gaetz, who used to be a Congressman, stepped down from his position last month after being picked by Trump for attorney general. But he backed out after facing some serious pushback from the Senate.
The House Ethics Committee dropped a report saying Gaetz forked over over $90,000 to a dozen women, likely for sex and drugs. CNN and CBS are saying he broke Florida laws too.
One part of the report mentions that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party back in 2017. She got $400 from him that night, which she thought was payment for sex. Gaetz didn’t even ask her age, and she didn’t tell him she was under 18.
There was a three-year FBI investigation into Gaetz for sex trafficking, but no charges came out of it. The committee found he broke House rules and other conduct standards, like prostitution and drug use.
While they didn’t find evidence that any women were under 18 when they traveled with him, they did say he was involved in transporting women for commercial sex. But all the women who spoke to the panel said their encounters with him were consensual.
Still, one woman mentioned that drugs at the parties might have messed with their ability to fully consent. Another said she felt violated looking back on some moments.
The report also accused Gaetz of taking luxury trips that went over the allowed limits, including a 2018 trip to The Bahamas. He even tried to stop the report from coming out, claiming it would ruin his reputation.
In his lawsuit, he argued that the panel was violating his rights by threatening to release this report filled with potentially damaging claims. He denied having sex with anyone under 18 but didn’t specifically address the allegations about the 17-year-old girl.
His lawyers are saying the report will contain false and harmful information about him. It’s a pretty messy situation, and it looks like it’s far from over.