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Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use

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Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use
News

News

Inside the Gaetz ethics report, a trove of new details alleging payments for sex and drug use

2024-12-24 09:23 Last Updated At:13:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee's long-awaited report on Matt Gaetz documents a trove of salacious allegations, including sex with an underage girl, that tanked the Florida Republican's bid to lead the Justice Department.

Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation.

The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report's release Monday, slammed the committee's findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a Justice Department investigation into the allegations ended without any criminal charges filed against him.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” Gaetz wrote in one post Monday. “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.”

Here's a look at some of the committee's key findings:

The committee found that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women "likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” He paid the women using through online services such as PayPal, Venmo and CashApp and with cash or check, the committee said.

The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the “transactional nature” of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz balked at a woman’s request that he send her money, “claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’”

Women interviewed by the committee said there was a “general expectation of sex,” the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that “99 percent of the time” that when she hung out with Gaetz “there was sex involved.”

However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature," the committee said.

Text messages obtained by the committee also show that Gaetz would ask the women to bring drugs to their “rendezvous,” the report said.

While most of his encounters with the women were in Florida, the committee said Gaetz also traveled “on several occasions” with women whom he paid for sex. The report includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging.

Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges in 2021, initially connected with women through an online service.

In one text with a 20-year-old woman, Greenberg suggested if she had a friend, the four of them could meet up. The woman responded that she usually does “$400 per meet.” Greenberg replied: “He understands the deal,” along with a smiley face emoji. Greenberg asked if they were old enough to drink alcohol, and sent the woman a picture of Gaetz. The woman responded that her friend found him “really cute.”

“Well, he's down here for only for the day, we work hard and play hard," Greenberg replied.

The report details a party in July 2017 in which Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee pointed to “credible testimony” from the now-woman herself as well as “multiple individuals" who corroborated the allegation.

The then-17-year-old — who had just completed her junior year in high school — told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. The woman acknowledged that she had taken ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was “certain” of her sexual encounters with the then-congressman.

There's no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn't tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and he didn't ask how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party.

But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee.

In sum, the committee said it authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents and contacted more than two dozen witnesses.

But when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz for his testimony, he failed to comply.

"Gaetz pointed to evidence that would ‘exonerate’ him yet failed to produce any such materials," the committee said. Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.”

The report details a months-long process that dragged into a year as it sought information from Gaetz that he decried as “nosey” and a “weaponization” of government against him.

In one notable exchange, investigators were seeking information about the expenses for a 2018 getaway with multiple women to the Bahamas. Gaetz ultimately offered up his plane ticket receipt “to” the destination, but declined to share his return “from” the Bahamas.

The report said his return on a private plane and other expenses paid by an associate were in violation of House gift rules.

In another Gaetz told the committee he would “welcome” the opportunity to respond to written questions. Yet, after it sent a list of 16 questions, Gaetz said publicly he would “no longer” voluntarily cooperate.

He called the investigation “frivolous,” adding, “Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.”

The report said that while Gaetz’s obstruction of the investigation does not rise to a criminal violation it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress “act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.”

The committee began its review of Gaetz in April 2021 and deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request. It renewed its work shortly after Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation without filing any charges against him.

The committee sought records from the Justice Department about the probe, but the agency refused, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges.

The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department, and after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” according to the report.

“To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said.

Many of the women who the committee spoke to had already given statements to the Justice Department and didn't want to “relive their experience,” the committee said. “They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ’s lack of action on their prior testimony,” the report said.

The Justice Department, however, never handed over the women's statements. The agency's lack of cooperation — along with its request that the committee pause its investigation — significantly delayed the committee's probe, lawmakers said.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club's annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

KURUKKAL MADAM, Sri Lanka (AP) — Pulled from the mud as an infant after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, and reunited with his parents following an emotional court battle, the boy once known as “Baby 81” is now a 20-year-old dreaming of higher education.

Jayarasa Abilash's story symbolized the families torn apart by one of the worst natural calamities in modern history, but it also offered hope. More than 35,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed, with others missing.

The 2-month-old baby was washed away by the tsunami in eastern Sri Lanka and found some distance from home by rescuers. At the hospital, he was No. 81 on the admissions registry.

His father, Murugupillai Jayarasa, spent three days searching for his scattered family, with little left to his name in those early hours but a pair of shorts.

First he found his mother, then his wife. But their infant son was missing.

A nurse had taken the baby from the hospital, but returned him after hearing that his family was alive.

The ordeal, however, was far from over. Nine other families had submitted their names to the hospital, claiming “Baby 81” as their own, so the hospital administration refused to hand over the child to Jayarasa and his wife without proof.

The family went to the police. The matter went to court. The judge ordered a DNA test, a process that was still in its early stages in Sri Lanka.

But none of the nine other families claimed the baby legally, and no DNA testing was done on them, Jayarasa said.

“The hospital named the child ‘Baby 81’ and listed the names of nine people who claimed the child, omitting us,” he said.

“There was a public call to all those who said the child was theirs to subject themselves for DNA testing, but none of them came forward,” he recalled. Jayarasa said his family gave DNA samples and it was proven the child was theirs.

Soon, the family was reunited. Their story drew international media attention, and they even visited the United States for an interview.

Today, Abilash is sitting for his final high school exam. Solid and good-natured, he hopes to attend a university to study information technology.

He said he grew up hearing about his story from his parents, while classmates teased him by calling him “Baby 81" or “tsunami baby.” He was embarrassed, and it worsened every time the anniversary of the tsunami arrived.

“I used to think ‘Here they have come’ and run inside and hide myself," he said as journalists returned to hear his story again.

His father said the boy was so upset he wouldn’t eat at times.

“I consoled him saying, 'Son, you are unique in being the only one to have such a name in this world," he said.

Later, as a teenager, Abilash read more about the events that tore him from his family and brought him back, and he lost his fear.

He knows the nickname will follow him for life. But that's all right.

“Now I only take it as my code word," he said, joking. “If you want to find me out, access that code word.”

He continues to search online to read about himself.

His father said memories of those frantic, searching days 20 years ago remain fresh, even as others fade.

Over the years, the extensive publicity his family received has also affected them negatively, Jayarasa said.

His family was excluded from many of the tsunami relief and reconstruction programs because government officials assumed they had received money during their visit to the U.S.

The experience also led to jealousy, gossiping and ostracizing of the family in their neighborhood, forcing them to relocate.

The father wants his son and other family members to remain grateful for their survival, and he wants Abilash to become someone who can help others in need.

From time the boy was a toddler, his father collected small amounts of money from his work at a hairdressing shop. When Abilash turned 12, the family erected a small memorial to victims of the tsunami in their front yard. It shows four cupped hands.

The father explained: “A thought arose in my mind that since all those who have died have gone, leaving Abilash behind for us, why not a memorial site of our own to remember them every day."

FILE - Jayarasa Abilash, popularly known as 'Baby 81", naps in the arms of his mother Jenita, as his father, Murugupillai, helps make him comfortable during a photo opportunity in New York, Wednesday, March 2, 2005. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

FILE - Jayarasa Abilash, popularly known as 'Baby 81", naps in the arms of his mother Jenita, as his father, Murugupillai, helps make him comfortable during a photo opportunity in New York, Wednesday, March 2, 2005. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

FILE - Jenita Jayarasa, left, the mother claimant of the infant dubbed "Baby 81" holds the child and father claimant Murugupillai Jayarasa, center, shouts as a doctor, center, tries to prevent them from taking the infant, inside a ward at a hospital in Kalmunai, about 210 kilometers (131 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE - Jenita Jayarasa, left, the mother claimant of the infant dubbed "Baby 81" holds the child and father claimant Murugupillai Jayarasa, center, shouts as a doctor, center, tries to prevent them from taking the infant, inside a ward at a hospital in Kalmunai, about 210 kilometers (131 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE- A Sri Lankan policeman guards the tsunami survivor infant dubbed "Baby 81" inside a ward as people watch from outside at a hospital in Kalmunai, about 210 kilometers (131 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

FILE- A Sri Lankan policeman guards the tsunami survivor infant dubbed "Baby 81" inside a ward as people watch from outside at a hospital in Kalmunai, about 210 kilometers (131 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Feb. 3, 2005. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, smiles as he speaks to Associated Press at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, smiles as he speaks to Associated Press at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Floral tributes sit at a monument for the victims of 2004 Indian ocean tsunami at the residence of Jayarasa Abilash known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Floral tributes sit at a monument for the victims of 2004 Indian ocean tsunami at the residence of Jayarasa Abilash known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

People ride past the surroundings of Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

People ride past the surroundings of Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, in Kalmunai, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami goes through his photo album at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, left, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims out side his residence with his father Murugupillai in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, left, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims out side his residence with his father Murugupillai in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims outside his residence with his father Murugupillai in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims outside his residence with his father Murugupillai in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, right, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, shares a light moment with his father Murugupillai at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, right, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, shares a light moment with his father Murugupillai at his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims outside his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Jayarasa Abilash, known as Baby 81 after he was swept away by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, stands in front of a monument built in memory of tsunami victims outside his residence in Kurukkalmadam, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

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