The House Ethics Committee on Monday formally released its long-awaited report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, finding the Florida firebrand committed statutory rape, solicited prostitutes and used illegal drugs, among other misbehavior.
The report includes a dissent from the panel’s chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), who indicated again he would not have released the findings since Gaetz (R-Fla.) had already left Congress.
Guest said the release “breaks from the Committee’s long-standing practice, opens the Committee to undue criticism, and will be viewed by some as an attempt to weaponize the Committee’s process.” Given the panel’s even breakdown by party, at least one Republican must have joined with the panel’s Democrats to green light its release.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations against him and did so again to POLITICO on Monday morning ahead of the report’s official release.
