The fact that Gaetz paid for sex is not such a big deal to me. If it's a fair transaction, and everybody's able to give their consent, and no harm done - OK, do your thing.
But it takes a special kind of dirtbag to then turn around and show off pictures and videos to the gang at the office.
That's not the kind of thing an honorable man does, Matty. You need to keep your shit to yourself - especially when you're a sitting member of Congress, and you're supposed to be setting a good example of decent, law-abiding behavior for the folks back home.
And one of your "service providers" was underage? Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't just fall off a turnip truck - I realize there are people out there who're 17-goin'-on-35, but holy fuck, dude - you're a lawmaker and a lawyer, you stoopid fucking fuck.
Former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) regularly paid for sex, possessed illegal drugs and paid a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017, according to a 42-page report released by the House Ethics Committee on Monday on President-elect Donald Trump’s former pick for attorney general.
The report cited “substantial evidence” that from 2017 to 2020, Gaetz “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him,” and from 2017 to 2019, possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on “multiple different occasions.” The Ethics Committee also investigated a 2018 trip Gaetz made to the Bahamas where the panel found he accepted transportation and lodging in violation of the House rules and laws on gifts.
The GOP-led committee concluded in the document that Gaetz “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
The release of the report was temporarily delayed after Gaetz filed a lawsuit to halt the release of the panel’s findings, according to two people familiar with the panel’s internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. Gaetz’s lawyers requested a restraining order and injunction against the committee, arguing that its actions amounted to an “unconstitutional” attempt to “exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” according to the complaint.
The committee’s release of the hotly anticipated report, which came three days after Congress adjourned for the holidays Friday evening, reversed an earlier decision not to make public the results of its investigation. The report is the culmination of years-long scrutiny surrounding Gaetz and the allegations against him. The panel wrote that Gaetz was “uncooperative” throughout its review and found that he “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.”
It also concluded that he misused House resources when he employed his then-chief of staff to “assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.”
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Ethics Committee, and others had opposed publicizing the report, arguing that Gaetz was no longer up for attorney general or a member of Congress. Democrats wanted to force its release, leading to a contentious debate. In the report on Monday, Guest wrote on behalf of the members who did not support the release, arguing that “the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards” on releasing a report on “an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006.”
But Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Maryland) told The Washington Post in a brief interview that there was precedent for releasing a report after a member has left office. And he argued that the panel’s work was an important public good that provided “guidance to current members of the House as to what conduct is across the line and what’s permissible.”
“The public has a right to know,” said Ivey. “Whether [Gaetz] seeks public office of a different type, or whether he seeks employment in the private sector, I think this is the type of information, given the nature of these issues, that those folks should have a right to know before they make a decision.”
In 2020, while Trump was still in office, the Justice Department began investigating Gaetz over the alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl and sex-trafficking allegations that related to whether he had paid for her travel. The Justice Department did not bring charges. Gaetz has denied all the allegations against him and pointed to the Justice Department’s decision not to charge him.
Gaetz said on X last week that he has never been charged and never had sexual contact with a minor. He posted that his behavior was “embarrassing, though not criminal” and that he had in the past “probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have.” He also said he “often” sent money to women he dated when he was single, as well as some he did not date.
On Monday, Gaetz criticized the committee for releasing the report without giving him recourse to a courtroom, “where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” he posted on X. “This is testimony from one of the alleged ‘prostitutes’ that you won’t see in the report!” Gaetz added, sharing a screenshot of testimony from one of the witnesses who appeared before the committee and said she “never charged anyone anything.”
The report cited “substantial evidence” that from 2017 to 2020, Gaetz “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him,” and from 2017 to 2019, possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on “multiple different occasions.” The Ethics Committee also investigated a 2018 trip Gaetz made to the Bahamas where the panel found he accepted transportation and lodging in violation of the House rules and laws on gifts.
The GOP-led committee concluded in the document that Gaetz “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.”
The release of the report was temporarily delayed after Gaetz filed a lawsuit to halt the release of the panel’s findings, according to two people familiar with the panel’s internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. Gaetz’s lawyers requested a restraining order and injunction against the committee, arguing that its actions amounted to an “unconstitutional” attempt to “exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations,” according to the complaint.
The committee’s release of the hotly anticipated report, which came three days after Congress adjourned for the holidays Friday evening, reversed an earlier decision not to make public the results of its investigation. The report is the culmination of years-long scrutiny surrounding Gaetz and the allegations against him. The panel wrote that Gaetz was “uncooperative” throughout its review and found that he “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the Committee’s investigation of his conduct.”
It also concluded that he misused House resources when he employed his then-chief of staff to “assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.”
Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Ethics Committee, and others had opposed publicizing the report, arguing that Gaetz was no longer up for attorney general or a member of Congress. Democrats wanted to force its release, leading to a contentious debate. In the report on Monday, Guest wrote on behalf of the members who did not support the release, arguing that “the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards” on releasing a report on “an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006.”
But Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Maryland) told The Washington Post in a brief interview that there was precedent for releasing a report after a member has left office. And he argued that the panel’s work was an important public good that provided “guidance to current members of the House as to what conduct is across the line and what’s permissible.”
“The public has a right to know,” said Ivey. “Whether [Gaetz] seeks public office of a different type, or whether he seeks employment in the private sector, I think this is the type of information, given the nature of these issues, that those folks should have a right to know before they make a decision.”
In 2020, while Trump was still in office, the Justice Department began investigating Gaetz over the alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl and sex-trafficking allegations that related to whether he had paid for her travel. The Justice Department did not bring charges. Gaetz has denied all the allegations against him and pointed to the Justice Department’s decision not to charge him.
Gaetz said on X last week that he has never been charged and never had sexual contact with a minor. He posted that his behavior was “embarrassing, though not criminal” and that he had in the past “probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have.” He also said he “often” sent money to women he dated when he was single, as well as some he did not date.
On Monday, Gaetz criticized the committee for releasing the report without giving him recourse to a courtroom, “where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” he posted on X. “This is testimony from one of the alleged ‘prostitutes’ that you won’t see in the report!” Gaetz added, sharing a screenshot of testimony from one of the witnesses who appeared before the committee and said she “never charged anyone anything.”
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