Trump’s first attorney general pick paid for sex with minor – report
There is “substantial evidence” that former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who US President-elect Donald Trump nominated to be attorney general in his upcoming administration, paid for sex with a minor, a US House Ethics Committee report has claimed. He is also accused of committing other serious violations of state law and congressional rules.
Trump announced Gaetz as his choice for the post in mid-November, shortly after securing victory in the US presidential election. Gaetz, however, removed himself from consideration later the same month amid sexual misconduct allegations, which he has denied.
The Justice Department had earlier concluded a probe into sex trafficking allegations against Gaetz without pressing charges, although the House Ethics Committee, which launched its own investigation into the politician’s activities back in 2021, continued to review the matter.
In its report released on Monday, the committee said it had found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz “regularly paid” women to engage in sexual activity from 2017 to 2020, violating House Rules and standards of conduct. The payments allegedly amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.
The report also stated that in 2017 Gaetz paid a 17-year-old girl for sex, which would constitute statutory rape under Florida law as Gaetz himself was 35 at the time. Between 2017 and 2019, Gaetz was found to have on multiple occasions “used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy.”
The politician’s other violations included impermissible gifts, special favors, and misuse of campaign funds, the report stated. The panel also claimed that Gaetz “knowingly and willfully” tried to impede its investigation, including by withholding evidence and providing misleading responses to questions it posed to him.
In a last-minute attempt to block the report from publication, Gaetz’s lawyers filed a civil complaint against the committee and its chairman, congressman Michael Guest, earlier on Monday. The lawsuit claimed Gaetz had not been notified of the committee’s plans to release the report, nor given copies of the materials prior to its publication, despite these being requirements under House rules. It also claimed that the committee “lacked jurisdiction” to continue its probe after Gaetz resigned from Congress, which he did upon being picked for Trump’s upcoming administration.
The complaint requested that the court issue a temporary restraining order to block the report’s official release, but its processing was stalled due to paperwork errors, which Gaetz’s lawyers failed to fix before the document was made public.
Gaetz has raged against the report on X, describing it as defamatory and arguing against the findings cited in it in a slew of posts and reposts from his supporters. The former congressman has denied any improper conduct, noting that he did give money to women he dated, but insisting that he had “NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18” or used illegal substances.
