Former congressman Matt Gaetz, whom Donald Trump chose as his candidate for attorney general of the United States before he had to resign, harassed by the scandal, “regularly” paid women in exchange for sex, including a minor under 17 years of age. , between 2017 and 2020, years in which he was a member of the House of Representatives for the State of Florida. This is the conclusion of a report from the Congressional Ethics Committee made public this Monday, which also accuses him of violating “the rules of the House, state and federal laws and other standards of conduct that prohibit prostitution, statutory rape, the use of illicit drugs [como cocaína o éxtasis]acceptance of impermissible gifts, provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress [en sus investigaciones]”.
Gaetz, one of Washington’s most confrontational politicians, denies those accusations. He resigned from his position shortly before receiving Trump’s appointment, hoping that the report would not be made public, because, he argued, the committee does not have jurisdiction over former members. This morning, Gaetz tried unsuccessfully to stop the publication of the text. After a while, he tweeted on There’s a reason why they do this to me. [publicando] a report on Christmas Eve [de esta manera] and not in a court of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” In subsequent messages, Gaetz extracts testimonies from women “not included in the report” who deny having received money from him.
The 37-page document is the result of a bipartisan investigation lasting almost five years. Its publication was made possible after at least one Republican joined the five Democrats who make up the committee in a secret vote held in early December. Gaetz’s party, although not exactly one of its most popular members, was opposed to the report seeing the light, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, at the helm. He also did not welcome publishing the conclusions about a former member of Congress, something very unusual, but which has some precedents.
The report contains dozens of pages of evidence, including text messages and financial records, travel receipts, checks and payments on-line between several of the people involved. In them, you can see how Gaetz, 42, invites several women to events, getaways to the Bahamas or parties.
The committee, however, has found no evidence of the most serious charge: violating federal sex trafficking laws. “Although Rep. Gaetz helped make [esas] women traveled across state lines for the purposes of commercial sex, the committee has found no evidence that any of them were under 18 years of age at the time of travel. Nor can we conclude that force, fraud or coercion was involved in the commercial sexual acts,” the letter says.
Interviews and documents
The congressional investigation was delayed while the Justice Department conducted its own investigations. In February, after a year of working on the case, no charges were filed and the House committee took up the matter. The report is the result of more than a dozen interviews and the review of almost 14,000 documents.
The report also tells the story of the friendship between Gaetz and Joel Greenberg, a Florida tax inspector. They met in 2017, shortly after he was sworn in at the Capitol. “[Ambos] They frequently attended parties and other gatherings with young women. Greenberg initially contacted many of those women through the website SeekingArrangement.com (BuscandoAtrabajo.com in Spanish, and now Seeking.com). “Then, he presented them to Gaetz,” you can read on page 11. That website, the committee writes, is dedicated to connecting primarily older men and younger women in search of “mutually beneficial relationships.” “Many of the women interviewed understood that the website involved, at a minimum, an exchange of companionship for money.”
Greenberg was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges, including sex trafficking of a minor. Greenberg also admitted to introducing her to other “adult men.”
Gaetz’s future is uncertain. Years ago, a report like the one known this Monday would have meant his political death, but in these times of fake news, and, above all, with the rules of the MAGA universe [siglas de Make America Great Again, devolvamos su grandeza a Estados Unidos]you never know.
This Sunday, Gaetz dropped in at a conclave of Trumpism held this Sunday in Phoenix (Arizona), in which Trump was the star speaker, that he was considering running for the seat left vacant by Marco Rubio in the Florida Senate. Rubio is the new Government’s choice for Secretary of State.
