On Monday 23 December, a much-discussed document was published in the United States: the report of the Ethics Committee of the US Congress on Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first choice to become Attorney General (Attorney General) in his new administration, before officially withdrawing from the candidacy precisely because of the incumbency of this report, which is published following a secret ballot vote of the ten members of the Commission (composed equally of Democrats and Republicans) that took place on 10 December with several controversies that also find space in the final part of the report, where one can read an anonymous statement by the members who opposed the publication.

In this statement, it is argued that the publication of the report goes against the Commission’s rules (which allow only sitting parliamentarians to be judged) because Gaetz resigned as a parliamentarian on 14 November (with the specific intention of blocking the report), renounced his candidacy for government office (because he would not have sufficient votes from the Senate) and declared that he would not return to Congress, despite winning his seat in the November elections.Despite this, the report was nevertheless published and contains particularly important passages that go into detail on a series of incidents that would certify, according to the document itself, the violation of House rules and Florida state law. Let us now see in order all that the committee found in its investigation (which in any case has no judicial relevance and cannot be considered as a judge’s ruling).

Sexual conduct

Probably the most important part of the entire report, the committee revealed that Gaetz, from 2017 to 2020, regularly paid several women to have sex with him, with some witnesses certifying that very often the payment was not in money but through, for example, trips that Gaetz paid for the girls. On this issue, however, the committee considers that the federal crime of sex trafficking does not exist, as the girls were never subjected to any kind of violence or coercion.
The most serious allegations, however, concern events that took place in 2017, when Gaetz was 35 years old and allegedly had sexual intercourse with a girl who was only 17 at the time. The girl’s age was not discovered until a month later, but this does not matter in the face of Florida state law, which identifies this conduct as the crime of statutory rape, which only assesses the age of the person involved at the time of the relationship, regardless of whether the other party knew it. As if this were not enough, the commission found that after six months, Gaetz would pay the girl, now 18 years old, for further sexual intercourse.
On this point, the defendant tried to retaliate by attacking the girl and claiming that she had made these serious accusations against him out of economic necessity. The commission, on this point, argued that it could find no reason to doubt the veracity of the girl’s account and that the allegations were also supported by several reliable testimonies.

Drug use

According to the committee’s report, there are several qualified witnesses who would certify habitual consumption of drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. Furthermore, there is evidence that Gaetz opened an anonymous e-mail account from his office on Capitol Hill in order to purchase marijuana online. Responding to the committee’s questions, Gaetz has always denied using these drugs, when in fact it appears that on several occasions between 2017 and 2020 there was consumption, sometimes even in the company of girls he paid to have relations with.

Violation of the House Gift Rule

The committee uncovered gifts not permitted by the rules, in particular a series of hidden expenses regarding a trip to the Bahamas in September 2018. The rules require all MPs to declare all gifts, including those related to personal friendships, that exceed a certain financial value, and these cannot be accepted without the approval of the committee.
In this particular case, Gaetz is being accused of a series of trips on the private jet of an acquaintance, as well as food and accommodation expenses on the aforementioned trip to the Bahamas. According to the House rules, Gaetz would have to return the value of the gifts received and adjust his tax return taking into account their value.

Obstruction of the commission’s work

The commission clearly noted Gaetz’s willingness to obstruct the regular course of the investigation, refusing to testify spontaneously and claiming that he had evidence in his possession that would have exonerated him of all charges without it ever being handed over to the commission, and also refusing to answer 16 questions received by the commission at Gaetz’s express request. In particular, with respect to the trip to the Bahamas, Gaetz is alleged to have done everything possible to avoid having the committee discover all the information relating to his travels by private jet, as well as several missing statements with respect to financial transactions that, according to the rules, should have been disclosed in the annual financial declaration that every parliamentarian must prepare.

Why he will not be tried under federal jurisdiction

Despite the worrying picture that emerges from this report, we know that the Justice Department decided some time ago not to bring Gaetz to trial following their investigation. According to Politico, the facts alleged, particularly in relation to the crime of sex trafficking, were probably not considered serious enough to be tried by federal judges. As for the statutory rape charges, the statute of limitations under Florida state law has expired, making a trial on those facts impossible.
Instead, the commission is likely to send its records to federal prosecutors regarding the charges of obstructing the commission’s investigation.

What will happen

As already mentioned, Gaetz resigned his seat in Congress and renounced the nomination for Attorney General proposed to him by Donald Trump. Despite this, the day before the report was published, Gaetz himself hinted that he might run for the Florida senatorial seat left vacant by Marco Rubio, or even for governor of Florida in 2026, with Ron De Santis being prevented from running again due to the term limit.
Various members of the Republican party, in fact, claim that the report is meant to be a personal attack on Gaetz by the wing of the party close to Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker of the House ousted from his role also thanks to Gaetz’s contribution, and could indicate the GOP’s clear desire not to abandon Matt Gaetz to a fate that, at least to date, seems to be taking him further and further away from politics.