Fate of Matt Gaetz’s ethics report uncertain after two-hour ethics committee meeting

Since 2021, the secretive House Ethics Committee has been investigating Matt Gaetz on various allegations, including having sex with an underage teenager, using illegal drugs, accepting bribes, misusing campaign funds, and sharing images inappropriate on the floor of the Chamber.

A woman who attended a 2017 party with him testified before a House committee that she saw the then-congressman having sex with a minor, her attorney said.

The same attorney claimed Monday that this witness and another woman were paid by Gaetz to have sex with him.

The Floridian has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, casting the investigation as an attempt to smear his name by powerful enemies he has made in politics.

He also points to the fact that the Justice Department last year concluded a separate three-year federal sex-trafficking investigation by deciding not to file charges against him.

“The lies were weaponized to try and destroy me,” Gaetz posted on X on Friday.

Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time friend, was the only person charged in the DoJ’s sex-trafficking investigation. He cooperated with investigators and allegedly told prosecutors information about several others, including Gaetz.

Greenberg is he is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after agreeing to plead guilty to several federal charges, including child sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a false identification card and conspiracy to defraud the US government.