Rep. Matt Gaetz claims the congressional investigation into his past sexual encounters and alleged drug use is overly ‘nosey and rigged,’ calling it a ‘political payback exercise.’
The married 42-year-old Florida Republican has been the subject of a long-standing House Ethics Committee probe for multiple allegations.
Tackling some of those allegations head-on, the lawmaker posted a letter to his social media account Thursday to clear the air and put to bed speculation about an alleged sexual encounter he had with a minor, past drug use and more.
‘Your correspondence of September 4 asks whether I have engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18,’ Gaetz writes the top lawmakers on the House Ethics Committee.
‘The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,’ he wrote. ‘The lawful, consensual sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress.’
Gaetz reprimand the ethics panel for vigorously pursuing him despite his turning over ‘smoking gun’ evidence that he did no wrongdoing months ago.
‘I provided the Committee dispositive evidence of my innocence by producing ‘smoking gun’ contemporaneous, jailhouse writing, documenting the plot to frame me,’ he wrote.
That evidence, according to Gaetz, included documents showing that a key witness who accused him of the drug use and sexual encounter lied in order to reduce their own prison sentence.
The congressman likened the evidence to a smear campaign against him.
‘You ask, in part, whether I’ve had sex with a list of adult women over the past seven years. The lawful, consensual sexual actives of adults are not the business of Congress,’ Gaetz wrote.
‘This question about my sexual history reveals a sinister motive of the Committee to harm me and those who have had any association with me.’
‘Asking about my sexual history as a single man with adult women is a bridge too far.’
He also talked about his drug use, or lack thereof.
The memo continues: ‘You ask whether I have illegally taken drugs. I have not used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States.’
‘Your investigation into me has devolved into a political payback exercise, devoid of adequate due process, riddled with leaks, and now seeking deeply personal information that is no business of Congress.’
The Republican also noted that he was aware of an outstanding subpoena against him to compel his testimony under oath.
Gaetz said that though he has not been served the legal notice he ‘will no longer voluntarily participate in this regrettable abuse of the Committee.’
‘I am being investigated and judged by my political opponents,’ Gaetz wrote. ‘
This is Soviet. This investigation exists to do what the voters of my district won’t – remove me from office.’
Though If the subpoena is real, as the Republican claims, it could be an indication that the Ethics Committee probe is nearing an end.
