(NewsNation) — Rep. Glenn Ivey says there’s precedent for the House Ethics Committee investigation into former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
“I really do think the public has a right to know, especially when the allegations are of this magnitude and this nature,” Ivey, a Maryland Democrat, said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “The Hill.” “It’s important for them to have a sense of it. And you know, sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
Gaetz allegedly used drugs like cocaine and ecstasy and paid for sex with multiple women, including a 17-year-old girl, according to a House Ethics Committee report released to the public Monday.
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Gaetz filed a lawsuit against the committee Monday, challenging the body’s “unconstitutional … attempt to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of the report.”
The 37-page report concludes Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, regularly paid women for sex between 2017 and 2020, and on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019, he possessed illegal drugs. The committee also concluded Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the House committee’s investigation of his conduct.
NewsNation reported last week the ethics report would be released by Christmas after the House committee initially voted not to release the report after Gaetz resigned his House seat.
The report indicated Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s initial pick for attorney general, paid tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on several occasions. That included money he was said to pay to a 17-year-old girl in 2017. The report indicated Gaetz violated Florida’s statutory rape law as well as other state laws.
NewsNation’s Joe Khalil contributed to this report.
