Matt Gaetz paid for sex and drugs while in Congress, House Ethics report says: Live updates
Gaetz stands accused of buying and using illegal drugs, including from his office on Capitol Hill, according to the report
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Your support makes all the difference.The House Ethics Committee report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has been released, with the panel having “determined there is substantial evidence” that the former congressman and attorney general nominee violated a statutory rape law.
“The Committee determined there is 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,” the report states.
Before its release, Gaetz sued the committee to block the release of the report that found that he paid thousands of dollars to more than a dozen women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex.
In a federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., the Republican accused the committee of making an “unconstitutional” attempt to “exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen” by releasing a report “containing potentially defamatory allegations.”
He asked for a judge to issue an emergency order to block the report’s release, but drafts had already been published in several news outlets Monday morning.
Publishing the report would mark an “unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” attorneys for the former congressman wrote.
Gaetz report states some women said drug use at parties ‘impaired’ their ability to ‘fully consent’
The House Ethics Committee report into Matt Gaetz states that “all of the women interviewed by the committee said their sexual relationship with Gaetz was consensual, but at least one woman said the use of drugs at the parties they attended with him may have ‘impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent.’”
“Indeed, nearly every woman that the Committee spoke with could not remember the details of at least one or more of the events they attended with Representative Gaetz and attributed that to drug or alcohol consumption,” according to the report.
Gaetz has rejected the allegations.
The women also discussed instances where Representative Gaetz would try to convince them to have sex with him or Mr. Greenberg: “[H]e would make me feel bad about not having sex with him or [] Joel Greenberg” and that he would say, “Why don’t you want to have sex with me” or “[Mr. Greenberg] looks very sad over there … Make him happy.”
Another woman said that their relationship at some point was a “loving friendship,” but over time came to feel like a “task.”
A third woman said, “[W]hen I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”
One woman said, “I think about it all the time . . . . I still see him when I turn on the tv and there’s nothing anyone can do. It’s frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies.”
Giuliani dresses up as Santa in odd coffee ad
As his financial woes look ever bleaker in light of the $150 million defamation ruling against him in favor of two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of interfering in the 2020 election, Rudy Giuliani appears to be resorting to more unusual efforts to raise cash.
Broke Rudy Giuliani dresses up as Santa in odd coffee ad
Former New York mayor is promoting his coffee amid financial woes after being found liable for defamation of two Georgia election workers
Report: Gaetz ‘made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women'
The Ethics Committee states that “From 2017 to 2020, Rep. Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the Committee determined were likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use. Payments were made to these women using peer-to-peer payment platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp; while Representative Gaetz had accounts in his name on each of those platforms.”
Gaetz has rejected the allegations.
“In one text exchange viewed by the Committee, Rep. Gaetz balked at a woman’s request that he send her money after he accused her of ‘ditching’ him on a night when she was feeling tired, claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’ The woman asserted to Rep. Gaetz that she was being ‘treated differently’ than other women he was paying for sex,” the report adds.
Katie Miller, wife of key Trump aide Stephen Miller, tapped for Musk’s DOGE panel
Katie Miller will join the Trump administration’s much-watched non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, the president-elect announced on Sunday, where she will join Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in attempting to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal budget.
“She has been a loyal supporter of mine for many years, and will bring her professional experience to Government Efficiency,” Trumpwrote on Truth Social. “Katie is a deeply experienced communications professional respected by all. Congratulations to Stephen and Katie!”
Josh Marcus reports.
Trump taps Katie Miller, wife of key aide Stephen Miller, for Musk’s DOGE panel
DOGE panel aims to cut at least $500m a year from federal government
BREAKING: Bill Clinton admitted to hospital with fever
Former President Bill Clinton was admitted to a Washington-area hospital on Monday.
“President Clinton was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center this afternoon for testing and observation after developing a fever,” Clinton’s deputy chief of staff Angel Ureña wrote on X.
Josh Marcus is monitoring this breaking story:
If Mike Johnson is hoping for help from Democrats, he might be disappointed...
House Democrats have made it clear to Speaker Mike Johnson that they won’t launch another rescue attempt to allow him to retain the speakership.
Johnson is set to have the narrowest of majorities in the next Congress and will have little room to maneuver with a caucus in which some members are angling to take him out.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky has said that he’ll vote against Johnson as speaker on January 3. A number of other members of the party have said that they’re undecided, according to Axios.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Democrats tell Johnson they won’t rescue him from far-right members again
Democrats who voted to save the speaker in May now feel they can’t trust him after he reneged on deal to fund the government
Almost half of Americans support Trump’s plan to pardon Jan 6 rioters
Though most Americans oppose Donald Trump’s plan to pardon January 6 rioters charged with a crime, more than 4 in 10 said they support the decision, according to a new poll.
President-elect Trump has promised to issue pardons for those charged or convicted of a crime related to their actions on January 6, 2021, on his first day in office — a move that would validate his narrative of the day.
Despite the images, videos and convictions that show the tragic results of the attack on the Capitol, 43 percent of Americans said they support Trump’s decision to pardon rioters, according to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey.
Ariana Baio has the details.
Many Americans support Trump’s plan to pardon Jan 6 rioters charged with crimes
Approximately half of Americans oppose Trump’s plan to pardon rioters
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