Woman told House Ethics Committee she saw Gaetz ‘having sex with a minor’ at a party, her lawyer says

A woman told the House Ethics Committee that she saw former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) “having sex with a minor” at a party, Florida attorney Joel Leppard confirmed to The Hill on Saturday.

“As the Senate considers former Rep. Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, several questions demand answers,” Leppard told ABC News on Friday. “What if multiple credible witnesses provided evidence of behavior that would constitute serious criminal violations?”

Leppard represents two women who testified behind closed doors to the committee this year.

Gaetz, President-elect Trump’s congressional ally, resigned from the House on Wednesday just hours after Trump tapped him as the next attorney general.

The former congressman has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in a multiyear probe into allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a minor. The Department of Justice (DOJ) closed its investigation last year and did not press criminal charges against Gaetz.

“Merrick Garland’s DOJ cleared Matt Gaetz and didn’t charge him,” a spokesperson for Gaetz told The Hill. “Are you alleging Garland is part of a cover up?”

The House Ethics Committee’s probe into Gaetz kicked off in 2021 regarding various allegations, including illicit drug use and sexual misconduct.

Before Gaetz was selected by Trump to potentially become the nation’s top law enforcement official, the committee scheduled a Friday meeting where they would decide if they would release its findings.

Sources confirmed to The Hill that the slated meeting was canceled, but the panel could still release the findings despite some GOP House members, including Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), being against it. The fact-finding committee has 10 members

“If he’s going to continue through that process … I think the Ethics report needs to come out,” Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) told The Hill. “I just don’t want an attorney general who’s compromised, with that kind of a report hanging out there that could be used to compromise him.”

Gaetz’s selection to be the next top law enforcement official has shocked many lawmakers and officials in Washington, with some Republican senators expressing concern that he might not be able to get confirmed through the upper chamber.

“He’s got an uphill climb,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said.

Updated at 8:24 p.m. EST

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