Matt Gaetz is having a very bad week, following the release of a House Ethics Committee investigation report into his misconduct.
Rumors already swirled around the report, claiming it included details about a widely-claimed sexual encounter with an underaged girl, and we now have access to the full 37 pages worth of findings. Those findings are bad news for Gaetz, whose frequent denials are falling on deaf ears, as Americans — and of course, The View‘s Ana Navarro-Cárdenas — pour over the damning details uncovered by the Ethics Committee.
Those details include “substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress,” according to the report, and the details are genuinely shocking. They include nearly $100,000 in payments to various women — including the broadly-rumored 17-year-old — reports of drug-fueled sex-capades, and widespread use of illicit drugs, including on Capitol Hill.
Few people believed Gaetz when he denied all wrongdoing, but the report’s findings are serious enough to shock even those who fully believed Gaetz was up to mischief. Even Navarro-Cárdenas, co-host of The View, was staggered by the severity of the committee’s findings, which she called “beyond disturbing.”
Referencing the report, Navarro-Cárdenas explained that “it alleges criminal acts, including with a minor. And Gaetz is the guy Trump initially wanted to be his Attorney General,” before ending on a stirring “God help us.”
In the comments section of Navarro-Cárdenas’ post, one person summed up the whole sitch quite succinctly: “New rules. It’s only a crime if you lose the election.”
Navarro-Cárdenas’ post was shared alongside a CBS News report covering the details of the investigation, as reporters dug into the “shocking allegations” outlined in the report the network obtained. As CBS reporter Scott MacFarlane explained, the report’s “substantial evidence that Matt Gaetz had sex with a minor,” is only one damning detail contained within its pages.
Also included are Gaetz’ reported history of engaging in “rampant drug use” and his violation of “multiple state laws,” which, for anyone else, could spell jail time. Unfortunately, for someone like Gaetz, who enjoys broad protection from incoming president Donald Trump, there likely won’t be consequences outside the continued tarnishing of his already abysmal reputation.
As Navarro-Cárdenas observed, it’s all the more damning to learn that Gaetz had to pay for sex. In the position he was in, with the kind of money and drugs he was supposedly slinging around, he should have had no issue finding women. Maybe it’s the forehead, the crummy ethics, or his tendency toward younger partners, but it seems Gaetz preferred to pay.
Gaetz has been working to impede both the investigation and the release of its findings for years now, even going so far as to threaten — in tandem with Marjorie Taylor Greene — his fellow Congresspeople. As the release of Gaetz’s report drew nearer, Greene threatened her colleagues with the airing of their own dirty laundry, something the public at large would happily embrace. For once in your life, Marj, you’re actually right — the people should know about all the illicit activities our representatives get up to.
The likelihood of Greene actually going through with her threat is extremely slim, particularly since her own questionable activity would likewise be released for the world to see. And, while her background likely doesn’t include drug-fueled sex parties, it almost certainly contains at least one thing she doesn’t want the world to know.