Matt Gaetz used illicit drugs while paying for sex with multiple women — including 17-year-old: ethics probe

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz was allegedly found to have used illegal drugs like cocaine and ecstasy while paying for sex with multiple women — including a 17-year-old high school junior he had sex with in front of other people, according to a damning draft of the House Ethics Committee report.

Gaetz allegedly paid more than $90,000 to 12 different women, according to a 37-page draft of the report obtained by CBS News and Just the News.

“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,” it alleged.

“From 2017 to 2020, Representative 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,” it alleged.

Gaetz denied the damning allegations — and filed a lawsuit trying to block its official release.

Gaetz, 42, resigned from Congress on Nov. 13 — hours after President-elect Donald Trump tapped him to be the next US attorney general — but sex misconduct allegations and alleged drug-fueled parties from the congressional ethics probe and an earlier Justice Department investigation eventually led to him withdrawing from the confirmation fight.

The committee said that it received testimony indicating that at a party in 2017, Gaetz engaged in sexual acts with “Victim A,” who was just 17 years old and had recently completed her junior year in high school.

“Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,” the draft report alleged.

“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the committee wrote.

“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age,” it said — stressing that the girl not telling him her age does not matter under Florida law.

However, the investigation did not think Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws.

Gaetz confirmed to Just the News late Sunday that the draft matched details he was told would be in it.

He denied the allegations, saying any payments were gifts to girlfriends and again noting that no charges had ever been brought.

“These were some women who I dated over the course of a decade, and had relationships with at various times and that I admittedly were generous to,” he told Just the News.

He maintained that allegations he “may have engaged in sexual misconduct including violations of federal laws relating to sex trafficking and state laws relating to prostitution and statutory rape,” were “false” and that “[t]hese allegations were investigated by the Department of Justice and the investigation was completely dropped.”

He also denied using illicit drugs and having sex with a minor.

“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated — even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years,” Gaetz said.

“It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”

Among the report’s most shocking findings were allegations of drug- and sex-fueled parties, including a 2018 trip to the Bahamas where witnesses claimed he used ecstasy and had sexual encounters with four women.

The report indicated that the women who testified about their sexual encounters with Gaetz said it was consensual.

However, one noted that drug use at the parties might have “impair[ed their] ability to really know what was going on or fully consent,” while another said, “When I look back on certain moments, I feel violated.”

The committee also found that he allegedly took a prohibited free private plane ride back during that trip.

“Representative Gaetz clearly understood that he had acted contrary to House Rules by accepting private plane travel but chose to try to cover up his actions rather than comply with the Committee’s request,” the draft stated.

The Committee also alleged he “provided no evidence showing how he paid for any travel costs other than his flight to the Bahamas, despite being given multiple opportunities to do so.”

The report also allegedly found “substantial evidence” of Gaetz’s illicit drug use.

The committee said it obtained text messages alleging Gaetz would “ask women to bring drugs to their rendezvous, in some instances requesting marijuana cartridges and repaying the women directly, but in other cases requesting ‘a full compliment [sic] of party favors,’ ‘vitamins,’ or ‘rolls.’”

It alleged he “sent one woman several hundred dollars for marijuana cartridges.”

“Another woman said that she brought cocaine to at least one event with Representative Gaetz and that she witnessed him taking cocaine or ecstasy on at least five occasions,” it alleged.

Joel Greenberg, a Florida businessman and former friend of Geatz serving 11 years in jail after pleading guilty to underage sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the federal government, also spoke with the committee about on the former congressman’s alleged drug use.

“Mr. Greenberg told the Committee that he would typically provide drugs, such as ecstasy, for events he attended and Representative Gaetz would pay him back in cash,” the draft alleged.

“Several other women observed Representative Gaetz to be under the influence of drugs. Additionally, nearly every witness interviewed observed Representative Gaetz using marijuana.”

The investigation also found that Gaetz allegedly created a “pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana.”

Greenberg also allegedly introduced Gaetz to a woman in 2018 — with the two having sex the night the night they met — and later helped her obtain a passport, according to the report.

“At that first meeting, the woman also told Representative Gaetz she needed a new passport for an upcoming trip. She did not initially know Representative Gaetz was a congressman, but he connected her with his then-Chief of Staff, who worked with the State Department’s congressional liaison to secure a passport appointment for the woman within days of their first meeting,” the draft report alleged.

“An individual from the Department of State, Miami Passport Agency sent the Chief of Staff an email confirming ‘an appointment for your constituent,’ which the Chief of Staff then forwarded to the woman, who lived in Orlando, Florida—outside of Representative Gaetz’ congressional district,” it added.

The draft memo accuses Gaetz of ethics violations by using his status as a congressman to help her get a passport and falsely claiming to the State Department that she was a constituent in his congressional district.

On Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit to block the report’s release, asserting he is a private citizen outside the committee’s jurisdiction.

The committee’s inquiry into Gaetz started in 2021 but was paused during a federal sex trafficking investigation.

In February 2023, that investigation concluded without any charges against him, indicating a lack of evidence, and the Ethics Committee resumed its work.

The House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release the findings of its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz.

The Republican-led Ethics Committee’s secret vote occurred sometime in December.