Matt Gaetz regularly paid for sex, used drugs: Ethics panel

WASHINGTON: The

US House Ethics Committee

accused former representative

Matt Gaetz

- President-elect Donald Trump's former pick for attorney general - of regularly paying for sex, possessing illegal drugs and having sexual relations with an underage girl, according to the panel's report.
The report, released Monday, found that from at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz "regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him"; and, in 2017, "engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl," the report said. The Ethics Committee found that from 2017 to 2019, Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy "on multiple occasions," and accepted lavish gifts, including transportation to and lodging in the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts. Investigators listed payments by Gaetz totaling more than $90,000 to 12 women "likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use".
The ethics panel concluded that Gaetz violated state

sexual misconduct

laws, including Florida's statutory rape law, and violated House rules concerning gifts and misuse of his official office. Gaetz resigned from the House last month after he was selected by Trump to be AG. He withdrew from consideration in the face of an uphill confirmation battle in the Senate.