Ethics Report On Gaetz Goes Down In Flames After ‘Staggering Lies’ Are Uncovered

A damning U.S. House ethics report on Matt Gaetz is being shot through with holes after one critic says she has uncovered “staggering lies” about the former Florida congressman accused of underage sex with a minor.

An investigation into Gaetz was initiated in 2017 by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and released last week after Gaetz had resigned his seat while seeking the U.S. attorney general post in a nomination by President-elect Donald Trump. Salacious details about Gaetz’s alleged drug use and sex with a 17-year-old female hit the mainstream media like a thunderclap and threatened to derail Trump’s ongoing battle to install loyalists in the upper echelons of his incoming administration, forcing Gaetz to withdraw his nomination. Rather than take the 37-page report at face value, Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist has dug into the conclusions, and she claims to have found objectionable inclusions that may have tainted its findings.

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Among them is a statement by an associate of Gaetz who said mentions of him in the report are erroneous, the Western Journal reported. “At the outset, I’ll note the release of your committee’s report is bizarre, Congressman Gaetz is no longer subject to your jurisdiction, and the precedential effect of the release of this report cannot be overstated,” a lawyer for Chris Dorworth, the man mentioned, wrote to House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-MS). The report included “three demonstrably false statements within your report,” the letter goes on to say.

“Mr. Dorworth did not and has never believed that Representative Gaetz invited people to his house on July 15, 2017,” the letter stated. “To support your claim that Gaetz ‘invited’ people to my client’s home, you cite, in footnote 97, a gate log that doesn’t include Gaetz’s name on it and reference an affidavit and deposition transcripts that say nothing about Gaetz inviting anyone to my client’s home.” Furthermore, the letter goes on, “Mr. Dorworth’s deposition transcript does not support this statement in your report, and it should be retracted immediately.”

Central to the Ethics report is testimony by Dorworth recalling that Gaetz was in his home that night but did not invite additional guests. Dorworth’s lawyer adds that the Florida compound where his client lives requires non-residents “to present a driver’s license before entering, and entry records are maintained.” According to the report, no record of Gaetz being on the property that night was found.

Another discrepancy is the fact that “Mr. Dorworth was deposed and confronted with cell phone records showing that he was, in fact, at his residence during the party,” the letter states. “As an attendee at Mr. Dorworth’s deposition, I can assure you he was never ‘confronted with any cell phone records,’” adding that the records “were deemed ‘Attorneys Eyes Only’ at the time of Mr. Dorworth’s deposition” and that he was “mortified that the Committee on Ethics would include such a ridiculous conclusion” in its report.

A third point of contention involves whether the committee adequately responded to Dorworth’s agreement to testify a second time to clarify his whereabouts and the timeline surrounding the night in question. “The Committee requested, through counsel, that Mr. Dorworth clarify his testimony regarding his whereabouts on the evening of July 15, 2017; his counsel did not respond,” the committee’s report states; however, Dorworth’s lawyer contends that his client contacted the committee on September 6th, 2024 agreeing to appear again but did not receive a response.

“Interesting. The House ‘Ethics’ Committee is caught here just flat out lying about three things in its report on Matt Gaetz. (In addition to all the other alleged falsehoods),” Hemingway noted in an X repost of the letter. All three discrepancies build on others found by the Federalist writer in November when she reported that two of the witnesses relied on were the same individuals who the Justice Department interviewed before it dropped its investigation into Gaetz in 2022.

Interesting. The House "Ethics" Committee is caught here just flat out lying about three things in its report on Matt Gaetz. (In addition to all the other alleged falsehoods) https://t.co/OwYyBRZS8F

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 24, 2024

Gaetz landed softly at One America News Network, where he will anchor his own primetime show, offering him an influential position in the conservative media landscape from which to cover the machinations of Washington. “We’ve been big fans of Matt Gaetz from day one. We admire his leadership and authenticity, and we’re confident he’ll really connect with our viewers. It’s an exciting partnership that’s going to take OAN to the next level,” OAN anchor Dan Ball said in a statement announcing the news earlier this month.

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