Gaetz had sued the ethics committee and its chair on Monday in a last-minute bid to preemptively block the release of the report.
The House Ethics Committee unveiled its report into the past conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Dec. 23 after he filed a lawsuit in federal court to block its release.
The report alleges that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for drugs or sex in at least 20 instances, including paying a 17-year-old girl for sex in 2017.
“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,” panel investigators wrote.
Now that Gaetz has resigned from Congress, he argued in the lawsuit that the House Ethics Committee is reaching beyond its constitutional authority because it lacks jurisdiction over him as a private citizen. His attorneys maintain the report includes “untruthful and defamatory information” that could “significantly damage” Gaetz’s standing and reputation.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, names the Ethics Committee and its chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), as defendants.
“The Committee’s apparent intention to release its report after explicitly acknowledging it lacks jurisdiction over former members, its failure to follow constitutional notions of due process, and failure to adhere to its own procedural rules and precedent represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s attorneys wrote.
The Epoch Times contacted the House Ethics Committee and Guest for comment. The ethics committee declined to comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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