REPUBLICAN Matt Gaetz has filed a lawsuit to block the public release of a report laying out his alleged sexual and drug misconduct.
The ex-congressman, who resigned recently after being nominated by Donald Trump for attorney general, was discovered to have given money to multiple women and an underage girl for sexual favors.
According to the latest version of the document, Gaetz reportedly provided over $90,000 in payments to 11 women and a 17-year-old girl from 2017 to 2020.
Early this week, Gaetz took legal action against the House Ethics Committee to halt the disclosure of the investigation by requesting a temporary restraining order.
Gaetz has demanded the restraining order on several grounds, arguing, “Media coverage would be immediate and widespread.”
In the lawsuit, Gaetz also says that as he is now a private citizen, he is not subject to the committee’s jurisdiction.
The report lays out a number of lurid allegations against the firebrand Republican.
Gaetz allegedly had sex with “Victim A,” who was 17 years old and had just finished her junior year at high school, twice at a 2017 party, according to the report.
“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex,” the report states.
“Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”
