ReutersFormer Republican congressman Matt Goetz spent tens of thousands of dollars on sex and drugs while a US congressman, according to a long-awaited report from the House Ethics Committee.
It follows a years-long investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use by Goetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump wanted to serve as the nation's top lawmaker.
The commission also found evidence that Goetz, 42, received gifts in excess of allowable amounts in connection with a trip in 2018. to the Bahamas.
The former lawmaker has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he was the victim of a smear campaign. Amid the controversy, he withdrew from consideration to serve as U.S. attorney general.
The Congressional Ethics Report found that “there is substantial evidence that Representative Goetz violated House rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, use of illegal drugs, unauthorized gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” .
Since 2017 until 2020 Gaetz made payments totaling more than $90,000 (£72,000) to 12 different women “which the commission determined were possibly related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report said.
The report also contained testimony that Goetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old at a party in 2017, giving her $400 “which she understood to be payment for sex.” Getz denied having sex with a minor.
The Justice Department also investigated an allegation that he had sex with a minor, but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.
In the latest court filing Monday, Goetz sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the report from being released. He accused the ethics committee of trying to exercise its jurisdiction over a private citizen.
The commission's 42-page report accused Goetz of being uncooperative throughout the review and that he frequently “derailed, deterred or misled” the group “to prevent his actions from being revealed.”
Despite the subpoena, he never appeared before the commission to testify.
Goetz represented Florida's first congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives after coming to power in the same 2016 election that launched his ally Trump into the White House for the first time.
Getz married in 2021. for his now-wife Ginger, who supported the former Florida congressman when he faced the allegations.
She posted a photo on X of her husband with the caption “unemployment never looked so good” after he withdrew his name to serve as attorney general after resigning from Congress.
Goetz was thought to be beyond the reach of the committee when he resigned from Congress last month, following Trump's nomination to be US attorney general – the top US law enforcement official who leads the Justice Department.
Trump chose Goetz in part because he is an ultra-loyalist who has also pledged to take on a “weaponized” legal system that supporters say is aimed at Trump.
He was one of Trump's most vocal defenders on Capitol Hill. But many Republicans in Congress, including those charged with voting on such nominations, were horrified by the choice and successfully challenged it.
Goetz dropped out just eight days after being nominated by Trump amid a wave of controversy. Trump then selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his nominee for attorney general.
Trump has yet to comment on the report's findings.
While it is unusual for the committee to publish its findings after an MP leaves public office, the report noted that a “majority” of members found it was in the public interest to do so in this case.
An intense debate erupted over whether or not the report should be released, especially after Goetz withdrew his name from consideration for the top role at the Justice Department.
He said he hoped to avoid an “unnecessarily protracted battle in Washington.”
Goetz's intended role as attorney general was one that required the confirmation of U.S. senators, and he did not appear to have the necessary support.
The Secret Ethics Commission has been investigating Goetz intermittently since 2021. here – not only on allegations of sex and drugs, but also on allegations that he accepted bribes and misused campaign funds. In all cases, he categorically denied any wrongdoing.
House Republicans previously blocked efforts by Democrats to release the report's findings, but two of them later voted to do so, according to CBS.
On Monday, Goetz posted on This X that the committee chose to release the report near Christmas, “rather than in a courtroom of any kind where I can present evidence and call witnesses.”
Last week, he posted that the ethics committee planned to “release a report online that I am not in a position to discuss or refute as a former member of the body.”
He admitted in a previous X post that his 30s had been an era of “very hard work – and also hard play”.
“It is embarrassing, if not criminal, that I probably partied, married, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” he wrote. “I live a different life now.”
Several House Democrats criticized their former colleague and Trump for choosing him as an ally.
Representative Glenn Ivey, one of five Democrats on the Ethics Committee, said the allegations against Goetz show there is a pattern on Trump's part of not “putting people in these positions who are really capable of doing the job.”
“President-elect Trump should have thought twice before nominating Matt Goetz and some of the other nominations he's made, I think will also require reconsideration,” he told CBS News, the BBC's US affiliate.
After leaving Congress, Goetz signed a deal to become an anchor on One America News Network (OAN). He will join the conservative news network in January.
It also started selling personalized video messages on the Cameo video platform.