Gaetz responds after House Ethics Committee releases report

WE BEGIN THIS MORNING – WITH THE RELEASE OF THE HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE REPORT ON ITS INVESTIGATION INTO FORMER CONGRESSMAN MATT GAETZ. 

HERE NOW IS OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT RAY BOGAN FROM WASHINGTON D.C. ON WHAT SPECIFICALLY THE REPORT UNCOVERED AND HOW THE CONTROVERSIAL FORMER LAWMAKERS HAS RESPONDED TO THE COMMITTEE’S FINDINGS.

RAY BOGAN

The House Ethics Committee report into former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is now in the eye of the public. The investigation found “substantial evidence” President-elect Donald Trump’s first pick for attorney general broke state and federal laws while in office, including statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl.

Gaetz resigned from Congress in November after Trump elected him to lead the Department of Justice. He withdrew his name for consideration once stories about his alleged misconduct were revealed. The allegations caused him to lose support with Republican senators needed for confirmation.

On Monday, Dec. 23, the committee released details into the allegations surrounding Gaetz. Investigators conducted numerous interviews, reviewed thousands of documents and submitted dozens of subpoenas.

The committee typically doesn’t release its findings but a vote from the majority of the members said the report should be made public.

• From at least 2017 to 2020, Rep. Gaetz regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him.
• In 2017, Rep. Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
• From 2017 to 2019, Rep. Gaetz used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
• Rep. Gaetz accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts.
• In 2018, Rep. Gaetz arranged for his chief of staff to assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.

Investigators interviewed women Gaetz allegedly paid for sex and obtained payment information that revealed he gave more than $90,000 to at least a dozen women while serving in Congress.

Those monetary payments also include $400 to someone who was a junior in high school at the time. She said she didn’t disclose her age and Gaetz didn’t ask.

The women who testified said the sexual activity was consensual. However, drug use could’ve impaired their thinking and overall judgment.

The House Ethics Committee said Gaetz attempted to derail its three-year investigation by refusing to be interviewed and failing to provide exonerating evidence.

Gaetz denies all allegations, calling them nothing more than “smears” from his political enemies.

He posted on X that he was “fully exonerated” by the DOJ following a federal investigation into sex trafficking claims in 2021. He said his actions were embarrassing but not criminal and he leads a different life now.

The committee did not find any sufficient evidence of federal sex trafficking.

The report stated, “Although Representative Gaetz did cause the transportation of women across state lines for purposes of commercial sex, the Committee did not find evidence that any of those women were under 18 at the time of travel, nor did the Committee find sufficient evidence to conclude that the commercial sex acts were induced by force, fraud, or coercion.”

Several members of the ethics committee did not agree with the decision to release the report because Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress. They don’t disagree with the findings but believe it’s out of the committee’s purview.

Gaetz is suing the committee in federal court for releasing the report after he resigned from Congress. His lawyers argue the report will lead to irreversible damage to his reputation.

Gaetz has never been charged with a crime related to the report or any other allegations.

THIS MORNING – FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON REMAINS HOSPITALIZED IN WASHINGTON, D.C. AS HE RECOVERS FROM A FEVER. 

ACCORDING TO HIS DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, CLINTON WAS ADMITTED TO MEDSTAR GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR TESTING AND OBSERVATION. 

THE 42ND PRESIDENT IS SAID TO BE IN GOOD SPIRITS, DESPITE SUFFERING FROM DEHYDRATION.  HIS REPS SAY THAT CLINTON HOPES TO BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.  

BILL CLINTON IS 78. HE HAS FACED A NUMBER OF HEALTH SCARES IN THE PAST – INCLUDING BEING HOSPITALIZED IN CALIFORNIA IN 2021 FOR A URINARY TRACT INFECTION. 

HE UNDERWENT TWO HEART PROCEDURES AT NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL – ONE IN 2004 AND ANOTHER IN 2010.

IN CALIFORNIA — RESCUERS PULLED TWO PEOPLE TO SAFETY AND ANOTHER PERSON MADE IT OUT ON THEIR OWN, AFTER THE SANTA CRUZ PIER PARTIALLY COLLAPSED, YESTERDAY UNDER A MAJOR STORM SURGE. 

ABOUT 150 FEET OF THE PIER, HAD ALREADY BEEN CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC BECAUSE OF DAMAGE FROM PREVIOUS STORMS, THAT’S THE PORTION THAT COLLAPSED INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 

IT INCLUDED A RESTROOM BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT MEANT TO REPAIR THE WHARF. 

AUTHORITIES SAY ONE OF THOSE WHO FELL INTO THE WATER WAS A PROJECT MANAGER ON THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AND THE OTHER TWO WERE CONTRACTORS. 

INVESTIGATORS IMMEDIATELY EVACUATED THE WHARF.  IT WILL REMAIN CLOSED INDEFINITELY. 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAYS THE DANGEROUS STORM THAT LED TO THE COLLAPSE WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT BEACHES ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST THROUGHOUT TODAY.

PROSECUTORS IN NEW MEXICO HAVE DROPPED THEIR APPEAL TO REINSTATE CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST ACTOR ALEC BALDWIN IN CONNECTION WITH THE DEADLY SHOOTING ON THE SET OF the MOVIE “RUST”. 

A JUDGE PREVIOUSLY DISMISSED THE CASE AGAINST BALDWIN IN JULY AFTER THE DEFENSE ACCUSED PROSECUTORS OF WITHHOLDING EVIDENCE. 

BALDWIN HAD BEEN FACING AN INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE IN THE DEATH OF CINEMATOGRAPHER HALYNA HUTCHINS. 

BALDWIN WAS HOLDING A PROP GUN, THAT HAD BEEN LOADED WITH A LIVE ROUND WHEN IT DISCHARGED ON THE SET NEAR SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO IN 2021, KILLING HUTCHINS AND WOUNDING DIRECTOR JOEL SOUZA. 

BALDWIN HAS MAINTAINED HE NEVER PULLED THE TRIGGER ON THE GUN AND DID NOT KNOW IT WAS LOADED WITH A LIVE ROUND. 

THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE SAID IT WITHDREW THE APPEAL AFTER THE NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE SAID IT QUOTE “DID NOT INTEND TO EXHAUSTIVELY PURSUE THE APPEAL ON BEHALF OF THE PROSECUTION.”

HAWAII’S KILAUEA VOLCANO IS ERUPTING AGAIN. 

THE HAWAII VOLCANO OBSERVATORY SAYS THE ERUPTION — WHICH STARTED ABOUT 2:30 A-M MONDAY LOCAL TIME — IS CONFINED TO A REMOTE, CLOSED AREA OF HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK ON THE BIG ISLAND. 

EXPERTS SAY THE BIGGEST CONCERN RIGHT NOW IS THE THREAT OF VOLCANIC SMOG — OR “VOG” — WHICH COULD REACH HOMES DOWNWIND. 

KILAUEA IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANOES.

FINALLY THIS MORNING – IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE – AND IF YOU ARE DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS – YOU’RE MORE LIKELY TO SEE ONE THIS YEAR THAN LAST – WHICH SAW THE LEAST SNOW COVERAGE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING SINCE RECORD-KEEPING  BEGAN IN 2003. 

ACCORDING TO THE WEATHER CHANNEL – HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE WEST AND AREAS NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF SNOW THIS YEAR. 

METEOROLOGISTS SAY THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS FROM NORTH DAKOTA AND NORTHERN MINNESOTA INTO THE UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN, 

PARTS OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND. 

AS WELL SECTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST – MAINLY WEST OF I-95- AND IN THE UPPER-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 

AND WHAT EXACTLY IS A WHITE CHRISTMAS? IT’S DEFINED AS ONE INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION, ON THE GROUND, ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 25TH.