This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, “War, Peace and the Presidency.” I’m Amy Goodman.
We turn now to the damning details of the House Ethics Committee report released Monday on former Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick for attorney general before Gaetz was forced to withdraw from consideration. He tried to block the report’s release this week but failed.
The bipartisan committee’s report found Gaetz, quote, “regularly paid women for engaging in sexual activity with him” and possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on, quote, “multiple different occasions.” The report also found Gaetz had paid a 17-year-old high school student for sex in 2017. The Ethics Committee also investigated a trip Gaetz made in 2018 to the Bahamas where he accepted transportation and lodging in violation of the House rules and laws on gifts.
The committee found Gaetz, quote, “violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” The report has renewed questions about how Gaetz escaped federal charges after an earlier Justice Department criminal investigation.
A lawyer for two women who testified before the House ethics panel, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats — two of the witnesses said they were paid for sexual favors by Gaetz, including one who said she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor — had called for the report to be released. Joel Leppard said in a statement, “The House Ethics Committee’s thorough investigation and detailed findings vindicate my clients’ accounts and demonstrate their credibility.”
Meanwhile, Gaetz continued to deny all allegations against him. He wrote on X, quote, “Giving funds to someone you are dating–that they didn’t ask for–and that isn’t “charged” for sex is now prostitution?!? 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,” he said.
Gaetz also spoke Sunday about his future in politics at Turning Point’s AmericaFest.
MATT GAETZ: My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress. It seems I may not have had enough support in the United States Senate. Maybe I’ll just run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks.
AMY GOODMAN: Gaetz has also said he may return to Congress briefly, since the special election to replace him is set for April 1st. He wrote on X he could be sworn in with the new House members in January, then file a privileged motion to, quote, “expose every ‘me too’ settlement paid using public funds” of former and current members. He suggested he would then resign and head to the One America Network, where he’s been hired to host his own hourlong political talk show.
For more, we’re joined in Miami, Florida, by Naomi Feinstein, staff writer at Miami New Times. She’s been reporting on Matt Gaetz. Her latest co-authored piece is headlined “Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz Paid 17-Year-Old for Sex, Ethics Report Found.”
Naomi, thanks so much for joining us. So, the report found, among other things, he paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex. Explain exactly, as you analyze this report, what he is being accused of.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, the report is detailed. There are extensive records showing these payments, from Venmo, from PayPal, from his checking account. And he would — he had this middleman, Joel Greenberg. As we all know, he was the former tax collector of Seminole County. And he would help him arrange to meet these women via Seeking Arrangement, which is a mutual beneficial relationship website — more so, you know, colloquially, sugar babies wanting to meet sugar daddies. And so, they would have these meetings, and it was pretty clear that these were for sex. And so, you see these text messages talking about payments, talking about flying to New York, flying here, flying to the Bahamas. And it’s pretty clear. And the women also said they knew that — not all of them, of course, but some knew that this notion of sex and payment was expected in these relationships.
AMY GOODMAN: So, wait. Explain. So, both of them were public officials.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, he was a Seminole County tax collector, ways away from us in Miami. So, we don’t know the ins and outs of him, you know, in terms of — aside from his whole criminal indictment, and he’s actually currently in prison.
But, yeah, he was kind of like this little middleman for Matt, and he would really arrange these meets. There’s text messages where he’s texting with one woman, asking, “Oh, do you have a friend?” And she’s like, “Yeah, I have a friend.” And the meet would be $400. And he then sends it, sends a text, “Well, this is my friend,” texting a picture of Matt. So, you kind of see this. And he cooperated with investigators in terms of the federal investigation, but also with the House committee. He was pretty integral in giving a lot of these records, explaining how they would have these parties. Again, in July 2017, one of these parties is where Matt had sex with the 17-year-old girl. So, yeah, they kind of had this kind of tandem, this little tag team of having these parties, having this arrangement to meet women.
AMY GOODMAN: In one text exchange, a woman complains to another woman, who’s also involved, that she didn’t receive payment from Gaetz. She said, “I hate the money situation and drugs,” she writes. The woman advises her to ask for her money upfront and, quote, “before you have sex with him for sure.” Talk about these text exchanges. And talk about the significance of the House Ethics Committee releasing this report, because it meant that Republicans had to join the Democrats in agreeing to release it.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, yeah, these text messages, as you just read, are pretty explicit in terms of the details. They’re talking about, again, all the drugs. He’s asking for, “Oh, I’ll pay you. Do you have cartridges, like, for marijuana pens?” Yeah, there’s constant discussions of payment. One woman was complaining about not being paid, and he says, “You only gave me a drive-by.” And so, there’s a lot of this discussion about payment and not getting paid, again, in terms of these sexual favors.
On the other front, yeah, I mean, it is shocking, I think, that they released it, given, you know, this, the party line in terms of staying also in toe with Trump, him being — you know, Gaetz being a Trump — fierce Trump ally. I just think the public pressure, I think, became too much. Again, I don’t know. I’m not in these meetings. But I just think it’s hard to escape this. And I think there would be growing calls to release it. So, I think it is shocking, but again, I think — you saw the public pressure kind of almost force him to pull out of the AG race, so I think the public pressure, again, just really forced their hand.
AMY GOODMAN: The report also focuses in part on a trip that Gaetz took to the Bahamas. Explain what this trip was.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, no, it’s a very — we actually kind of — in our six takeaways in our article, we kind of pulled this trip out. So, it was in 2018. It was Gaetz and two, they said, like, friends, two of which — both of which are very tied in with the medical marijuana industry. Again, we don’t know who they are. And they went with six women to the Bahamas. Gaetz flew commercial to the Bahamas, but his lodging was paid for by this medical marijuana individual, you know, tied into the industry. There was ecstasy. These women said they had sex with Gaetz. There’s sexual activity. We don’t know the extent of it.
And in terms of — they said they weren’t exactly paid for this. They said the trip itself was payment. The reason why this trip kind of got in the crosshairs, aside from his behavior, was that also on the way back from the trip, Gaetz went on a private plane paid by this medical marijuana-tied individual. So they found out that — all the undisclosed gifts. The lodging was paid for. The meals were paid for. The women said they never saw Gaetz pay for anything. And again, Gaetz flew on this private plane back. So, again, these are just gifts that he’s getting on the other front of the high, besides his behavior.
AMY GOODMAN: So, if you can talk about his role in the downfall of Kevin McCarthy? Or, I should say, the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy attributes his downfall to Matt Gaetz, who he said wanted the Ethics Committee probe to be stopped. Because McCarthy didn’t, he voted against him.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, he was leading the charge with getting Speaker McCarthy, you know, out. And so, yeah, and, I mean, we even see at the RNC, I remember, before — even before Matt took the stage, he’s there, like, teasing McCarthy. And yeah, Gaetz is a fierce ally of Trump’s, so anyone getting in their way is their enemy, so to speak. So, yeah, he will do any — we’ll see. I mean, it’s pretty clear that he would really do anything to let that, you know, more right-wing MAGA agenda in. And so, McCarthy was just in his way. And so, he will do what he needs to do to get to help Trump.
AMY GOODMAN: And the possibility — and now he’s going on to OAN, the extreme right-wing TV network. But the possibility he could run for governor of Florida or Senate?
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, I mean, I know he’s teasing it. Again, we don’t know with him. He’s very unpredictable. But, yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t be shocked if he runs for governor. You know, he’s been in state politics. His dad, you know. And so, there are — you never know with him.
AMY GOODMAN: What about the power of his family, Naomi Feinstein?
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, no, they’ve just been ingrained in Florida politics. He’s just known around here. And so, I don’t think he’s going away so quickly. And so, yeah, I mean, again, I wouldn’t be shocked if he runs for governor. Again, I don’t know. Again, I’m all the way down in South Florida. We’re miles away from what on the ground people think of Matt Gaetz, you know, in his congressional district. So, he might be electable up there. We just don’t know, and it’s a gauge that we will find out. But it will be very interesting, I think, how this all plays out, given these accusations. But at the same time, you see already everyone on his side, Trump, you know, defending him, saying these are baseless accusations. He was exonerated by the federal investigators. So, it’s going to be a situation like that likely, I’m guessing.
AMY GOODMAN: And how it’s possible that President-elect Trump — I mean, so many of his picks are from New York and from Florida, where he now resides. And, of course, Don Gaetz, Matt Gaetz’s father, longtime Florida Republican politician. Trump, the president-elect, didn’t know about this House report, or the thought that it could even be possibly leaked?
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: I know. Yeah, I thought the same thing, because I just [inaudible] —
AMY GOODMAN: Because this is — he picked him for attorney general. This is a man —
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: — by the way, we should be very clear on his positions, far-right positions, except on the issue of marijuana, for decriminalization. Is that right? But on issues —
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: On issues of reproductive rights, fiercely anti-abortion, talked about the women who support access to abortion too unattractive to be impregnated, that those who attend abortion rallies are, quote, “ugly on the inside and out.” When it comes to transgender issues, when it comes to the whole debate over bathrooms, he has been fierce in his anti-trans rhetoric, also even on the issue of contraceptives.
NAOMI FEINSTEIN: Yeah, exactly. And so, back to what you were saying about the House report, I thought the same thing. I mean, again, we would hope that Trump knew about this. But at the same time, nothing surprises me at this point, you know? And so, yeah, I think it’s shocking that he did go through, if he did exactly know this. But at the same time, if he didn’t know this, that’s even crazier, considering there should be proper vetting. You know what I mean? There should be proper discussions about this. But it’s shocking that if he — if he knew all of this and still proceeded.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Naomi Feinstein, I want to thank you for being with us, staff writer at the Miami New Times. We’ll link to your article, “Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz Paid 17-Year-Old for Sex, Ethics Report Found.”
Next up, we look at the toppling of the Assad regime, what it means for the Kurds of Syria. Stay with us.
