Then-U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, speaks at the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee. The U.S. House Ethics Committee released a report Monday finding "substantial evidence" of misconduct by Gaetz. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general in his second presidency, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, paid for sex, including with a minor, used illegal drugs and sought to obstruct investigators, according to a U.S. House Committee on Ethics report released Monday.

The 42-page report, the culmination of a years-long committee investigation, found that Gaetz, who denies the allegations, “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him,” used cocaine and ecstasy on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019, accepted gifts including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, and lied to the Department of State to obtain a passport for a woman he was sexually involved with and who he falsely claimed was his constituent.

“Representative Gaetz took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter. Such behavior is not ‘generosity to ex-girlfriends,’ and it does not reflect creditably upon the House,” the report stated, noting the former congressman violated Florida prostitution and statutory rape laws.

Gaetz has not been criminally charged.

But the panel cited “substantial evidence” that Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old girl whom they refer to as “Victim A.” Evidence included “credible testimony from Victim A herself, as well as multiple individuals corroborating the allegation.”

“Several of those witnesses have also testified under oath before a federal grand jury and in a civil litigation,” the report continued.

“Representative Gaetz denied the allegation but refused to testify under oath. He has publicly stated that Victim A ‘doesn’t exist’ and that he has not ‘had sex with a 17-year-old since I was 17.’ The Committee found that to be untrue and determined that there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz had sex with Victim A in July 2017, when she was 17 years old, and he was 35. Representative Gaetz’s actions were in violation of Florida’s statutory rape law,” according to the report.

Gaetz was chosen by Trump in November as his nominee to run the U.S. Department of Justice, even though Gaetz was previously the target of a department sex trafficking investigation that never yielded charges. Gaetz resigned from the House hours after Trump named him for the position.

After criticism from lawmakers and a spotlight on the House Ethics Committee’s probe, ongoing since April 2021, Gaetz bowed out of the running for attorney general.

Gaetz continues to deny the allegations outlined in the committee report and sued the panel Monday. In the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Gaetz calls the committee’s decision to release the report “unconstitutional” because it does not have jurisdiction over a private citizen.

“There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” Gaetz wrote on X Monday.

Gaetz declined an opportunity to present his version of events to the committee, refusing an invitation to sit for a voluntary interview, the report said.

Debate over release

The committee wrestled with the decision to release the report, blocking the decision after meeting on Nov. 20 before reversing course in a Dec. 10 vote.

Committee Chair Michael Guest said in a statement Monday that he opposed the report’s release.

“I believe, have publicly stated, and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Mr. Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024,” Guest, a Mississippi Republican, said.

“While I do not challenge the Committee’s findings, I did not vote to support the release of the report and I 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’s statement continued.

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves a House Republican Conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 3, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)  

WASHINGTON — Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he’s withdrawing as President-elect Donald Trump’s planned nominee for attorney general days after securing the appointment.

Gaetz’s path to Senate confirmation was highly unlikely following years of investigations about alleged drug usage and payments for sex, including with an underage girl. He submitted his resignation to Congress last week.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz wrote in a social media post. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.” 

Trump posted on social media afterward that he “greatly” appreciated “the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General.”

“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

When asked if the Trump-Vance transition team had another nominee choice lined up, and whether they viewed the Gaetz withdrawal as a setback, spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not provide details.

“President Trump remains committed to choosing a leader for the Department of Justice who will strongly defend the Constitution and end the weaponization of our justice system. President Trump will announce his new decision when it is made,” Leavitt told States Newsroom in an emailed statement. 

The House Ethics Committee voted along party lines Wednesday not to release its report on Gaetz, following more than three years of investigation. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including the allegations that he had sex with a minor.

Meetings with senators

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, spent Wednesday shuffling Gaetz between meetings with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would have held his confirmation hearing. Republicans will control the Senate in the new session of Congress beginning in January.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, wrote on social media that he respected Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his name from consideration as AG.

“I look forward to working with President Trump regarding future nominees to get this important job up and running,” Graham said.

GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, incoming Judiciary Committee chair, posted the following on X: “I respect Gaetz decision &look fwd 2helping PresTrump confirm qualified noms 2reform Dept of Justice &bring TRANSPARENCY/ACCOUNTABILITY Trump’s mission = DRAIN THE SWAMP& I would add get some1 who will answer my hundreds of outstanding oversight letters sitting at Biden DOJ/FBI.”

Grassley’s staff referred States Newsroom to the social media post when the outlet reached out for comment.

The offices of Sens. John Kennedy of Louisiana and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, fellow Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, declined to comment.

Gaetz’s future is unclear, given that he resigned from the U.S. House last week and notified the chamber he didn’t plan to take the oath of office for the upcoming 119th Congress.

He first joined the House in January 2017 and led efforts to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from that role last year, setting off a month-long stalemate within the House Republican Conference over who should lead the party.

The race to fill his empty seat in a special election has already attracted six candidates, mostly Republicans in a heavily conservative-leaning district.

Gaetz could jump into the race for his old seat, possibly winning a place back in the House of Representative next year following the special election.

He could also try to take the oath of office when the next session of Congress begins on Jan. 3, since he wrote in his resignation letter that he did “not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress, to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.”

That would give the House Ethics Committee jurisdiction to complete its report on Gaetz and release it publicly. 

AG oversees Department of Justice

The attorney general is responsible for overseeing the Department of Justice, which includes the federal government’s top law enforcement agencies as well as prosecutors.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office for Victims of Crime, Office on Violence Against Women and U.S. Attorneys’ offices are among the 40 entities within the DOJ and its 115,000-person workforce.

Congress approved $37.52 billion for the Department of Justice in the most recent full-year spending bill.

Trump had two attorneys general during his first term as president. He first nominated former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, whom Trump later fired amid disputes, and then Bill Barr. 

Ashley Murray contributed to this story.

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., left,  President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be attorney general, walks alongside Vice President-elect J.D. Vance as they arrive for meetings with senators at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 20, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Republicans on a U.S. House ethics panel Wednesday opposed the public release of a long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz, a former House member who is now the nominee for U.S. attorney general, according to the panel’s top Democrat, Susan Wild.

The outgoing Pennsylvania congresswoman told reporters that the evenly divided 10-member House Committee on Ethics took a vote but split along party lines. The report contains findings on whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other allegations involving gifts and privileges.

President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement last week that he intends to nominate Gaetz to the nation’s highest law enforcement position set off a maelstrom on Capitol Hill over whether the ethics panel should release its report after Gaetz abruptly resigned his Florida seat, effectively halting the probe.

Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest said after the lengthy closed-door meeting that “there was not an agreement by the committee to release the report.”

Guest, a Mississippi Republican, told reporters the panel would meet again but did not provide details.

Wild vehemently disputed Guest’s statement to a group of reporters shortly afterward, calling it  “inaccurate.”

“I do not want the American public or anyone else to think that Mr. Guest’s characterization of what transpired today would be some sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus on this issue,” Wild said.

Committee inquiry since 2021

Gaetz, who denies all allegations, has been under the committee probe since April 2021. The former congressman was also investigated by the Department of Justice for sex trafficking but was never charged.

ABC News reported Wednesday that it obtained financial records reviewed by the Ethics Committee showing that Gaetz paid two women, who were later witnesses in both the ethics and Justice Department probes, roughly $10,000 between 2017 and 2019.

An attorney for one woman who testified before the committee told NBC News Friday that his client witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor at an Orlando house party.

House Democrats urged the ethics panel to release the report. Democratic Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Sean Casten of Illinois introduced resolutions on the House floor late Wednesday to force the panel to release its findings.

Several Democrats wrote Tuesday to Guest and Wild that “there is precedent for the House and Senate ethics committees to continue their investigations and release findings after a member has resigned in a scandal.”

“Given the seriousness of the charges against Representative Gaetz, withholding the findings of your investigation may jeopardize the Senate’s ability to provide fully informed, constitutionally required advice and consent regarding this nomination,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter led by Casten and signed by dozens of others.

The nomination for U.S. attorney general requires vetting by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and a favorable confirmation vote on the Senate floor. Republicans will gain control of the chamber in January.

Vance accompanies Gaetz to meetings

On the other side of the Capitol, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance ushered Gaetz to private meetings with Senate Republicans.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, released a statement Wednesday morning following his “very good meeting” with Gaetz.

“This process will not be a rubber stamp nor will it be driven by a lynch mob,” the South Carolina Republican said. “My record is clear. I tend to defer to presidential Cabinet choices unless the evidence suggests disqualification. I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true.”

A half hour before his meeting with Vance and Gaetz, GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana told reporters the House should “follow the rules” regarding releasing the Gaetz ethics findings.

“Now I don’t know exactly what the House rules are. I’m told that if a member resigns, the report is not made public, but I also have read there have been exceptions to that. So the short answer is, I don’t know,” said Kennedy, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Having said that, the Judiciary Committee staff properly vets all of our nominees, and it’s been my experience in Washington that this place leaks like a wet paper bag,” Kennedy continued. “So I would assume that anything that’s out there will likely be made public. I’m not predicting that, but I’m not gonna faint with surprise if that happens.”