Matt Gaetz ethics report released: What to know about Florida's statutory rape law
A House Ethics Committee report found "substantive evidence" on accusation that former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to a dozen women for sex or drugs; used or possessed cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana and accepted a gift of a trip to the Bahamas.
Gaetz also allegedly helped a woman out of his district get a passport, and worked to obstruct investigation into these events. The former Florida lawmaker sought a restraining order in federal court Monday morning to prevent the report's official release.
But Gaetz is also accused of sexually assaulting a girl who was 17 and a high school junior at the time.
“The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,” the committee wrote in the bombshell report, according to CNN. “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.”
The minor did not tell Gaetz she was underage at the time, the committee said based on witness testimony, and he didn't ask. But that would still be a violation of Florida state law.
For years, Gaetz has repeatedly and voraciously denied all the allegations, saying his "generous" gifts to women were being misconstrued for political gain and that he was never allowed to confront his accusers.
"In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated - even some I never dated but who asked," Gaetz posted on X last week. "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."
Gaetz was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be his U.S. attorney general. He resigned from his congressional seat two days before the ethics report was scheduled to vote on the report's release, but later withdrew from the nomination following the media firestorm over the report's likely contents.
What is Florida's statutory rape law?
Under Florida law, a person who is 24 years old or older who has sex with a person 16 or 17 years of age has committed a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
There is no exception included for ignorance of the minor's age, nor may the minor's previous sexual conduct be considered relevant.
Can Matt Gaetz be charged with statutory rape in Florida?
Potentially yes, although it could be a hard case to prove.
The Justice Department previously investigated Gaetz for potential sex trafficking but closed the inquiry without charges, his lawyers told Paste BN in February 2023.
In 2021, a former friend of Gaetz, disgraced former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to six federal counts including, among other things, sex trafficking of children. He admitted to making more than 150 transactions totaling more than $70,000 to arrange liaisons with young women. He admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old girl and said in his plea agreement that he introduced her to other adult men who also had sex with her.
An investigation was launched to discover if Gaetz was one of those men, but the Justice Department leadership decided in 2023 not to pursue charges against Gaetz after investigators recommended not moving forward. The investigators had warned that two key witnesses were unreliable.
In his post on X, Gaetz claimed he had been fully exonerated but federal authorities never explained why charges were not filed.
According to a lawyer for two of the women who testified in the House Ethics Committee investigation, Gaetz dropped his sexual relationship with the girl once he learned she was a minor.
"Her understanding was that Matt Gaetz did not know that she was a minor and that when he learned that she was a minor, that he broke off things and did not continue a sexual relationship until she turned 18," Florida attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News.
(This story was updated to add new information.)