Lisa Desjardins:
Right.
Well, this contains very serious allegations and conclusions, very direct conclusions, according to the committee, that Gaetz violated law in a criminal way.
So let’s look at some of the main conclusions here. First of all, they found that, over the course of nearly four years, the committee found that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women, likely, they write, in connection with or for sex and drugs.
They found that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. And, according to the committee, that fits Florida’s definition, where this activity was alleged to happen, of statutory rape. Now, I also want to point out that the committee concluded that there is not evidence that he violated sex trafficking laws.
In this report, there is direct testimony from witnesses, including the women involved, but also a very large number of text messages either from Gaetz or naming him in conversations with women.
Now, it’s important to say the women in these conversations have said that this activity was consensual. This is not an allegation of assault. This instead is about paying for sex. And the allegation of statutory rape, the committee also goes out of its way to say there’s no evidence that Gaetz knew that this girl was 17.
However, they point out, according to them under Florida law, that ignorance of a minor’s age is not something that exonerates you. So, overall, this is a picture, from the committee’s view, of a member of Congress who spent years illegally paying for sex and for drugs.
