The bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others arranged for younger women to attend drug-fueled parties, events, or travels in exchange for payment. The former congressman, who launched a last-minute lawsuit to stop the report’s release on Monday, lambasted the committee’s findings. Gaetz has denied any misconduct and said he has never had sex with a juvenile. A Justice Department inquiry into the claims concluded with no criminal charges filed against him.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” Gaetz posted one post on Monday. “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.” Here’s an overview of the committee’s principal findings.

The committee discovered that from 2017 to 2020, Gaetz spent tens of thousands of dollars to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” The committee reported that he paid the ladies using internet platforms like as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp, as well as cash or check. The committee stated that it had evidence that Gaetz recognized the “transactional nature” of his connections with the women. According to the report, in one text discussion, Gaetz refused to offer a lady money, claiming that she just gave him a “drive.”

Women interviewed by the committee stated that there was a “general expectation of sex,” according to the study. One lady who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 stated that “99 percent of the time” she spent with Gaetz, “there was sex involved.” However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature,” according to the committee report.

The committee’s text exchanges also show Gaetz asking the women to bring drugs to their “rendezvous,” according to the report. While the majority of his contacts with the women occurred in Florida, the committee stated that Gaetz travelled “on several occasions” with women whom he paid for sex. The article includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to invite numerous women to events, retreats, or parties, as well as arrange for airplane travel and housing. Joel Greenberg, a Gaetz associate who pled guilty to sex trafficking charges in 2021, first met women online.

The report describes a July 2017 party at which Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee cited “credible testimony” from the now-woman, as well as “multiple individuals” who confirmed the claim. The then-17-year-old, who had recently finished her junior year of high school, told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. The woman admitted to taking ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was “certain” about her sexual experiences with the then-congressman.

There is no proof that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee that she did not tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time, and he had no idea how old she was. Rather, the committee reported that Gaetz discovered she was a minor more than a month after the party. However, he kept in touch with her after that and hooked up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee.

In total, the committee said it issued 29 subpoenas for records and testimony, reviewed roughly 14,000 documents, and spoke with more than two dozen witnesses. However, when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz, he refused to testify. “Gaetz pointed to evidence that would ‘exonerate’ him yet failed to produce any such materials,” a committee report stated. Gaetz had “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.”

The report describes a months-long procedure that carried on for a year as investigators sought information from Gaetz, which he described as “nosey” and a “weaponization” of the government against him. In one prominent discussion, investigators inquired about the costs of a 2018 trip to the Bahamas with many ladies. Gaetz eventually provided his aircraft ticket receipt “to” the trip, but declined to reveal his return “from” the Bahamas. According to the investigation, his return via private plane and other costs paid for by an acquaintance violated House gift regulations.

Gaetz told the committee that he would “welcome” the opportunity to reply to written questions. However, after receiving a list of 16 questions, Gaetz announced publicly that he would “no longer” voluntarily participate. He described the inquiry as “frivolous,” adding, “Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.” The report stated that, while Gaetz’s obstruction of the investigation does not constitute a criminal breach, it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress “act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.”

The committee began its assessment of Gaetz in April 2021, but suspended it due to a Justice Department request. It resumed its operations immediately after Gaetz stated that the Justice Department had concluded a sex trafficking investigation without charging him. The committee requested data from the Justice Department regarding the investigation, but the agency declined, stating that it does not release information about investigations that do not result in charges.

The committee subsequently subpoenaed the Justice Department, but after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department turned up “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” the report states. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the oversight body stated.

Many of the women interviewed by the committee had previously made statements to the Justice Department and did not want to “relive their experience,” according to the committee. “They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ’s lack of action on their prior testimony,” according to the investigation. However, the Justice Department never provided the women’s statements. The agency’s lack of cooperation, along with its request that the committee suspend its investigation, considerably delayed the committee’s inquiry, legislators claimed.