U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) leaves the U.S. Capitol after a 216-210 vote outside the U.S. to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from office and end McCarthy’s continued leadership Congress in Washington, D.C. Building, October 3, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
this house ethics committee It said Tuesday it has identified “additional allegations” against Rep. Matt Gaetz that “deserve review” and continues to investigate the Florida Republican regarding his alleged “sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.” accusation.
The ethics committee said it was now concerned with allegations that Gates, who denies wrongdoing, “provided privileges and benefits to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship and sought to prevent a government investigation into his conduct.”
The ethics committee also said it has been difficult to obtain relevant information from Gates and others since the federal criminal sex trafficking investigation began in April 2021 against Gates and friend Joel Greenberg. . The criminal investigation ended with Greenberg pleading guilty, 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 “determined that certain allegations warranted continued review.”
The ethics committee said that “during the course of its investigation, the committee uncovered other allegations that merit review,” although it was difficult to obtain information from Gaetz.
But the panel also said Tuesday it would pause its existing investigation into four misconduct allegations against Gaetz.
The committee “will not take further action at this time on allegations that he may have shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused national identity records, diverted campaign funds for personal use, and/or accepted bribes or improper gratuities.”
The committee issued a rare press release after Gaetz accused the committee of “launching a new frivolous investigation” into him.
“They do this to avoid the obvious fact that every investigation into me ends the same way: my innocence,” Gaetz wrote in a post on the social media site X.
Gaetz accused former Rep. Kevin McCarthy of pushing for an ethics investigation. Last October, Gaetz helped oust the California Republican and former House speaker after less than a year in the job. McCarthy resigned from the House of Representatives in December.
“It’s the Soviets,” Gates claimed. “Kevin McCarthy showed them this individual and they are now working hard to find the suspect.”
With Republicans holding only a slim majority in the House of Representatives, Gaetz’s fate and the outcome of the ethics investigation take on greater importance.
Republicans hold 218 seats in the House of Representatives, while Democrats hold 213 seats.
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