'Customer appreciation': Gaetz report uses text messages to allege payments for sex

WASHINGTON ― Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was President-elect Donald Trump's first pick for Attorney General, denies committing statutory rape in allegedly paying a 17-year-old for sex and other bombshell accusations in a newly released House Ethics Committee report.

But some of the committee's damning allegations come from the former congressman's own words and actions, according to details within the long-awaited report made public Monday.

Others comprise text messages, financial records, photos and interviews of people closest to him, the committee report said, including a former friend who's now in prison and an ex-girlfriend who both used a “sugar dating” site linking older men with younger women.

Gaetz has denied wrongdoing, attacked the credibility of the committee and some witnesses and said on social media that he regularly gave money to his girlfriends and acquaintances when he was younger.

A Justice Department investigation into Gaetz began in 2020 under then-Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump’s first term in office. The federal investigation of the Florida Republican resulted in no charges.

In response to a Sept. 4 committee request for information, Gaetz strongly denied having “engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18.”

“The answer to this question is unequivocally NO. You can apply this response to every version of this question, in every forum," Gaetz said in a statement posted to his social media account.

But in its report, the Ethics Committee said it received testimony that a then-17-year-old girl, identified in the report as Victim A, and Gaetz had sex twice during one July 15, 2017 party in South Florida, "including at least once in the presence of other party attendees."

"The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at the party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid," the report said.

Contesting payment for a 'drive by'

Much of that evidence came from text messages by Gaetz and his associates, according to the report.

In one text exchange obtained by the Committee, Gaetz balked at a woman’s request for money after he accused her of “ditching” him on a night when she was feeling tired, claiming she only gave him a “drive by,” the report said.

The woman asserted to Gaetz that she was being “treated differently” than other women he was paying for sex, the report added.

'Customer appreciation week'

The Committee also obtained text messages in which Gaetz’s then-girlfriend, who he initially met through the site SeekingArrangement.com, told a group of women that “the guys [Gaetz and a friend] wanted me to share that they are a little limited in their cash flow this weekend," the report said. "[M]att was like if it can be more of a customer appreciation week. . . .”

A few months later, the report said, Gaetz’s then-girlfriend told the other women, “Btw Matt also mentioned he is going to be a bit generous cause of the ‘customer appreciation’ thing last time.”

Gaetz, who has long maintained his innocence, attacked the credibility of the Ethics Committee Monday. He also published a series of posts on X with snippets of witness testimony that he said refute the committee's findings.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating ? that they didn’t ask for ? and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he wrote.

But the committee, citing financial records, said that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” including for cocaine and Ecstasy.

'Substantial evidence' Gaetz violated state and federal laws

Based on its years-long investigation, the bipartisan committee concluded there was "substantial evidence" Gaetz “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.”

A Trump ally, Gaetz was the president-elect's initial choice for attorney general, before withdrawing from consideration in the face of Senate opposition.

The Florida Republican resigned from Congress last month and recently joined One America News Network, where he is scheduled to host a one-hour weeknight show starting in January.

More: Matt Gaetz ethics report finds 'substantial evidence' of statutory rape, prostitution

Financial records at the heart of House Ethics investigation

At the heart of the investigation were payments it said Gaetz made to at least 12 women the report said in cash, by check or most often through online services like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App.

The women were usually more than 15 years younger than Gaetz, in their early twenties, and many were found by a friend of Gaetz through the “sugar dating” website, which “primarily connected older men and younger women seeking ‘mutually beneficial relationships,’“ the report said.

"Gaetz took advantage of the economic vulnerability of young women to lure them into sexual activity for which they received an average of a few hundred dollars after each encounter," the report said.

It cited prosecutions against individuals for sex trafficking that originated with contacts made on "sugar dating" through SeekingArrangement.com or similar websites.

Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s friend who the report said procured women for them both from the "sugar daddy" site, is currently serving an 11-year federal prison sentence, in part for sex trafficking of a minor.

The committee’s Republican chairman and ranking Democrat authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents, and contacted more than two dozen witnesses, it said.

The committee said it also received sworn written responses from Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector. Citing “credibility issues,” it said it would “not rely exclusively on information provided by Mr. Greenberg in making any findings.”

Gaetz for the most part refused to cooperate beyond stalling for time and giving non-responsive replies for requests for information and records, the committee said.

More: Underage prostitution, rules violations and more: Key takeaways from the Matt Gaetz report

In February 2023, the Justice Department informed Gaetz he would not be charged in connection with the investigation. It declined to share its investigative material with the committee, citing the lack of criminal charges against Gaetz.

Although DOJ has not commented, news reports at the time said the credibility of some of the witnesses, including the alleged underage victim, played a part in its decision not to bring charges.

A ‘general expectation’ of money for sex

Many of the women interviewed by the committee said they understood why they were being paid, often between $400 and $1,000 for an event or encounter.

“Representative Gaetz did not appear to have negotiated specific payment amounts prior to engaging in sexual activity with the women he paid,” the report said. “Instead, the women had a general expectation that they would typically receive some amount of money after each sexual encounter.”

Financial records cited by the committee showed Gaetz paid more than $4,000 to four of the women. One, who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019, said that “99 percent of the time” that she and Gaetz were together, “there was sex involved.”

Text messages obtained by the Committee showed that Gaetz “would also ask women to bring drugs to their rendezvous,” in some cases requesting “a full compliment [sic] of party favors.”

Gaetz did not return numerous requests for comment. He also refused to answer most committee questions while denying wrongdoing – especially with regard to allegations about paying for sex, the report said.

“There was, however, evidence that he understood and shared many of the women’s transactional views of their arrangements,” it said.

In one instance, the report said, Gaetz sent $400 to Greenberg with a note to “Hit up” one of the women, identified only as Victim A. “Mr. Greenberg then sent two women payments totaling $400, including Victim A.” None of the women are identified in the report.

‘It’ll be fun and very chill’

The report noted that, while Gaetz's spokesman denied Gaetz knew a woman he'd been photographed with in May 2017, the investigation showed that he had invited her and others for what he called a "fun and very chill" time in Key West with “2 guys, 4 girls. A very high-quality, adventurous group.”

“Payment records reviewed by the Committee," the report said, "show that Representative Gaetz paid $600 to the woman the same day he was photographed with her.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gaetz report uses text messages in sex and drug allegations