A bipartisan committee of the US Congress says it has uncovered "substantial evidence" that former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz regularly paid for sex, including once with a 17-year-old girl.
Warning: This story contains details of sexual abuse allegations
Mr Gaetz was Donald Trump's pick for attorney-general in his incoming administration but he pulled out of contention as sexual misconduct rumours swirled and senators indicated they were likely to block his appointment.
The new report was produced by the ethics committee, which is comprised of five Democrats and five Republicans.
It says Mr Gaetz's conduct while a congressman "reflects discreditably upon the House". It alleges he "violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use" and other matters.
But the committee "did not obtain substantial evidence" to support a sex-trafficking allegation. It also said Mr Gaetz did not know the 17-year-old was underage when he had sex with her.
Mr Gaetz, who quit Congress last month, has denied the allegations.
On social media, he said he often sent funds to women he dated, as well as some women he never dated but who asked, but this did not equate to paying for sex.
"Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn't ask for — and that isn't 'charged' for sex is now prostitution?!?" he wrote. "There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses."
In an earlier post, he said any allegation he had sex with a minor would be "destroyed in court". He also pointed out the Department of Justice had earlier looked into related allegations but dropped its investigation without charge.
Here are some of the key allegations in the ethics committee report:
Gaetz 'paid for sex' many times from 2017 to 2020
The women were often recruited through a "sugar dating" website, at the time called SeekingArrangement.com, which connected younger women with older men for "mutually beneficial relationships".
Mr Gaetz's friend Joel Greenberg often found the women. He later told the committee that he and Mr Gaetz split the costs for "drugs, hotel[s] and girls".
"Representative Gaetz did not appear to have negotiated specific payment amounts prior to engaging in sexual activity with the women he paid. Instead, the women had a general expectation that they would typically receive some amount of money after each sexual encounter."
The women were often invited to parties, events or trips. In one text exchange published in the report, Mr Greenberg said a 20-year-old woman's request for "$400 per meet" was "not a problem".
The report includes this message exchange between Joel Greenberg and a 20-year-old woman. (US Congress Committee on Ethics)
The report said all women interviewed by the committee said the sex was consensual, although one felt the use of drugs may have impaired their "ability to really know what was going on or fully consent".
"The women also discussed instances where Representative Gaetz would try to convince them to have sex with him or Mr. Greenberg: '[H]e would make me feel bad about not having sex with him or [Joel Greenberg]' and that he would say, 'Why don't you want to have sex with me' or '[Mr Greenberg] looks very sad over there … Make him happy'.
"Another woman said that their relationship at some point was a 'loving friendship', but over time came to feel like a 'task'.
"A third woman said, '[W]hen I look back on certain moments, I feel violated'.
"One woman said, 'I think about it all the time … I still see him when I turn on the TV and there's nothing anyone can do. It's frustrating to know I lived a reality that he denies'."
The report found there were at least 20 occasions when Mr Gaetz met with women who were paid for sex and/or drugs, and multiple "additional events" where he "may have" done so.
Gaetz allegedly had sex with an underage teen
According to witnesses, Mr Gaetz attended a party at the home of a Florida lobbyist, Christopher Dorworth, in April, 2017.
The committee was told Mr Gaetz and a 17-year-old girl, referred to as "Victim A", twice had sex at the party, "including at least once in the presence of other party attendees". Mr Gaetz was 35 at the time.
"Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school."
The report says Victim A did not tell Mr Gaetz she was under 18, he did not ask, and there was no evidence he knew she was a minor.
"However, statutory rape is a strict liability crime. After he learned that Victim A was a minor, he maintained contact and less than 6 months after she turned 18, he met up with her again for commercial sex. When Mr. Greenberg was prosecuted for sex trafficking the same individual, Representative Gaetz denied that she existed. His conduct reflects discreditably upon the House."
One woman was 'potentially coerced' by money for education
The report refers to a 21-year-old woman who Mr Gaetz "regularly paid for sex".
One on occasion, he invited the woman to a hotel room, without telling her that Mr Greenberg and another woman would be there too.
The report says the woman:
"…had recently asked the congressman for his help with her tuition. She recalled that Representative Gaetz agreed and told her to meet him at that hotel room, where he would provide her with a cheque, which, according to the woman, 'was interesting because he had normally sent [money transfer app] Venmo payments.'"
Joel Greenberg (right) was friends with fellow Florida Republican Matt Gaetz (left). (X: Joel Greenberg)
When she got to the hotel, she found Mr Greenberg and the other woman there with Mr Gaetz, and said there was an "expectation" of a "sexual encounter".
"The four of them had sex and afterwards Representative Gaetz gave her a $750 cheque made out to cash with 'tuition reimbursement' in the memo line, which she deposited the next day to help pay her tuition.
"The 21-year-old woman told the Committee she believed that the encounter 'could potentially be a form of coercion because I really needed the money.'"
Gaetz used illicit drugs, witnesses say
The report says at least two women saw Mr Gaetz using cocaine and ecstasy at different events, and "even more women understood him to regularly be using ecstasy".
It says there is "ample evidence" he also used marijuana, and he appears to have "set up a pseudonymous e-mail account from his House office in the Capitol complex for the purpose of purchasing marijuana".
In written correspondence with the committee, Mr Gaetz denied using illicit drugs.
Gaetz was 'uncooperative' with the investigation
The report says Mr Gaetz was "uncooperative throughout the Committee's review".
He provided "minimal documentation", did not participate in a voluntary interview, and did not show up at a deposition after he was subpoenaed.
The committee produced its report after reviewing almost 14,000 documents and contacting more than two dozen witnesses, its report says.
But it says some women did not agree to be interviewed because they feared retaliation or were "unwilling to voluntarily relive their interactions" with Mr Gaetz.
What now?
The committee is unlikely to take any further action. Mr Gaetz's resignation from Congress stripped the committee of its jurisdiction over him.
Given he is no longer an elected official, the committee's release of the report is a rare act.
The Department of Justice wound up its separate investigation early last year, without pressing any charges, and has indicated it intends to take no further action.
Mr Gaetz is set to co-host a nightly program on One America News, a right-wing online streaming channel, from January.
He has also floated the idea of running for the Senate.
"It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate," he said, referring to his run for the attorney-general position, at a convention on Sunday.
"Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks."
Mr Greenberg was jailed for 11 years in 2022, after pleading guilty to a range of related and unrelated crimes, including a sex-trafficking charge related to the 17-year-old.
Mr Gaetz says he has changed since the time period covered by the ethics report.
"It's embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanised, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life," Mr Gaetz wrote on X. "I live a different life now."
