Guest, others dissent in release of Gaetz House Ethics report, call it a “dangerous departure”

• Gaetz had been under a yearslong investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, which he had publicly denied.

The House Ethics Committee released its investigative report into the conduct of former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (R) on Monday, breaking from the committee’s long-standing practice of keeping their matters sealed once a member has resigned.

Gaetz resigned from his House seat prior to the announcement that he would be President-elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General nominee. He later withdrew his name from consideration and said he would not seek to retain the Florida House seat despite winning re-election.

The committee, evenly split down party lines, then rejected the release of the report into Gaetz’s conduct in late November. Monday’s release means at least one Republican would have had to crossover and vote with the Democratic members at the committee’s recent December meeting.

Gaetz had been under a yearslong investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, which he had publicly denied.

Mississippi 3rd District Congressman Michael Guet (R) chairs the House Ethics Committee.

In a statement of dissent written on behalf of those members opposed to the report’s release, Guest said they believe and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November14, 2024.

“While we do not challenge the Committee’s findings, we take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006,” Guest wrote. “House Rules give the Committee jurisdiction over current Members, officers, and employees of the House. Consistent with these rules, when a member who is under investigation by the Committee leaves the House, the Committee’s standard practice is to close its investigation and make no further statement on its findings. We do not believe the rules authorize the Committee to continue or expand its jurisdiction as it sees fit. Any precedent to the contrary is extremely rare, inconsistent with the rules, and outweighed by the vast majority of matters—too numerous to list—in which the Committee took no material action after losing jurisdiction.”

Guest went on to write that the release of the report opens the committee to undue criticism and will be viewed by some as an attempt “to weaponize the Committee’s process.”

“We believe that operating outside the jurisdictional bounds set forth by House Rules and Committee standards, especially when making public disclosures, is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences,” Guest wrote on behalf of the dissenting members.

The Report’s Findings

The House Ethics Committee determined there is substantial evidence that 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.”

The most striking of allegations determined in the report is that Gaetz violated Florida’s statutory rape law when he “engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.”

Gaetz has repeatedly denied the claims, saying recently in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), “The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. “I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. “Then, the very ‘witnesses’ DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued.”

Gaetz also wrote that he “often sent funds to women I dated – even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court – which is why no such claim was ever made in court.”

The House Ethics Committee report states that the Committee found no reason to doubt the credibility of the minor in question who made the allegations against Gaetz.

“Representative Gaetz’s statutory rape of Victim A was a violation of Florida law, the Code of Official Conduct, and the Code of Ethics for Government Service,” the report outlines. “The Committee received evidence that Representative Gaetz did not learn that Victim A was 17 years old until more than a month after their first sexual encounters. However, statutory rape is a strict liability crime. After he learned that Victim A was a minor, he maintained contact and less than 6 months after she turned 18, he met up with her again for commercial sex.”

To read the full Ethics report, click here.