'Beyond disturbing': Critics wince at lurid details in Matt Gaetz ethics report

Details leaked on Monday about the House Ethics Committee's investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and many critics of the Florida Republican were quick to register their disgust.

The 37-page report, which is due to be officially released on Monday, alleged that "there is substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress."

While rumors about Gaetz's alleged behavior have been floating around for years, many political observers were nonetheless revolted to see it documented in such lurid detail.

Former Republican Ana Navarro-Cárdenas expressed revulsion at Gaetz's alleged actions and marveled that President-elect Donald Trump actually nominated him to be attorney general.

"This report is beyond disturbing," she wrote on X. "It alleges criminal acts, including with a minor. And Gaetz is the guy Trump initially wanted to be his Attorney General. God help us."

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Former Republican pollster Sarah Longwell made a similar point about what the Gaetz pick said about Trump's judgement.

"Trump wanted this guy to be the highest law enforcement official in our country," she marveled on BlueSky.

Software engineer Alex Cole zeroed in on allegations that Gaetz paid for sex with an underage girl and tied it to Republican rhetoric about Democrats supposedly sexualizing children.

"So all this time Matt Gaetz has been the groomer Republicans warned us about?" he wondered.

Looking to the future, elections forecaster Lakshya Jain predicted doom for Gaetz's ambitions to become Florida's next governor.

"Many implications of this becoming official, but one of the non-legal ones is that Gaetz’s career in elected office is probably done," he wrote. "Virtually no chance he wins the 2026 Florida gubernatorial primary (unless Trump pulls out all the stops for him and the field is split)."

Washington Post conference Catherine Rampell highlighted a particularly strange passage from the ethics report in which Gaetz's former girlfriend informed the women he was allegedly paying for sex that he was "a little limited in their cashflow this weekend" and asked them if "it can be more of a customer appreciation week."

"What the..." Rampell wrote in response.

And Media Matters's Matt Gertz, who is frequently mistaken for the former Florida congressman on social media, lamented that his near-namesake was once again making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

"Just cruising into the holiday season, nothing bad could possibly happen today oh come on," he wrote on BlueSky.

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