U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his motion to vacate the chair of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and end McCarthy’s continued leadership by a vote of 216-210 was successful outside the USA Capitol in Washington, October 3, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it has identified “additional allegations” against Rep. Matt Gaetz “that merit review” as it continues to investigate the Florida Republican over allegations of “sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.”
The ethics commission said it was now investigating allegations that Gaetz – who denies wrongdoing – “provided special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had personal relationships and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct.”
The ethics board also said it had difficulty obtaining relevant information from Gaetz and others since the investigation began in April 2021 as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz and a friend, Joel Greenberg. This criminal investigation ended with Greenberg admitting guilt, but no charges were filed against Gaetz.
After interviewing more than a dozen witnesses and reviewing thousands of pages of documents, the committee said it “concluded that some of the allegations require further review.”
“During the course of its investigation, the committee also identified additional allegations that require review,” the ethics committee said, despite the difficulty of obtaining information from Gaetz.
But the panel also said Tuesday that it was suspending ongoing investigations into four separate allegations of misconduct against the Florida congressman.
The committee “will not take any further action at this time on allegations that he may have shared inappropriate images or videos in the House of Representatives, misused government identification information, converted campaign funds for personal use, and/or accepted bribes or inappropriate tips,” Das said Committee.
The committee issued the rare press release after Gaetz accused it of launching “new, frivolous investigations” against him.
“They are doing this to avoid the obvious fact that every investigation against me ends the same way: my exoneration,” Gaetz wrote in the post on the social media site X.
Gaetz accused former Rep. Kevin McCarthy of pushing the ethics investigation. Gaetz helped oust the California Republican and former House Speaker last October. McCarthy resigned from the House of Representatives in December.
“This is Soviet,” Gaetz claimed. “Kevin McCarthy showed them the man and they are now trying to find the crime.”
Gaetz’s fate and the outcome of the ethics investigation carry more weight now that Republicans only have a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
The GOP holds 218 seats in the House of Representatives, while the Democrats hold 213 seats.
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2024-06-18 16:24:10
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