Yuck, eeuw, icky. Criminently! The House Ethics Committee has released their report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. This report makes bilge water look pure. Jebus. We are talking drug use, unseemly gifts, drug use and other equally gruesome acts. We are not fond of the “talking hairdo” and rabblerouser, but as bad as his behavior may have been, it was never adjudicated. We don’t like raw data dumps. We are kind of picky about that whole rule of law thing.

The Uni-Party, Democrats and Establishment Republicans were annoyed by Matt Gaetz from jump. We don’t blame them. From day one, he was tossing Molotov cocktails into his own caucus. And, since Matt filed the “motion to vacate”, he fragged Kevin McCarthy. Not only did he frag him, he did it in a gruesome and irresponsible fashion.

From the day the House started investigating Gaetz, no one in the shitshow that is Congress distinguished himself/herself. Like say, Susan Wild from Pennsylvania. She leaked the report and admitted it:

Rep. Susan Wild (Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, was absent from the panel’s meeting last week after being traced as the source of leaks to the press regarding the investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), sources told The Hill.

It remains unclear if Wild voluntarily skipped the Thursday gathering or was asked not to attend, what information she leaked and to whom, and how the panel tracked her back as being the leaker. Two sources said Wild ultimately acknowledged to the panel that she had leaked information.

Isn’t leaking Ethics Committee information, um, what’s that word? UNETHICAL? The other thing is not only the unethical behavior, but no witnesses were called. Here is how the Washington Examiner wrote it up:

A long-awaited House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz determined there was “substantial evidence” the onetime lawmaker paid several women, including at least one minor, to have sex with him.

The report was published in full by the House Ethics Committee on Monday morning after the panel secretly voted earlier this month to release it. Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump‘s onetime nominee for attorney general who resigned from Congress last month, was investigated for four years by the committee over allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and use of illicit drugs.

“The Committee determined 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,” the 37-page report says.

The committee also investigated a 2018 trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas in violation of the House gift rule in “excess of permissible amounts,” during which he “engaged in sexual activity” with multiple women.

Let me point out that not only was Gaetz not married in 2018, he hadn’t met his wife yet. A single man having sexual activities with multiple women. I AM SHOCKED! I bet each member of the Ethics Committee is as pure as the driven slush. More…

The report also alleges that there was “sufficient evidence of Representative Gaetz’s intent to derail the investigation.”

“The Committee determined that Representative Gaetz’s attempts to mislead and deter the Committee from investigating him implicated federal criminal laws relating to false statements and obstruction of Congress. Even if Representative Gaetz’s obstructive conduct in this investigation did not rise to the level of a criminal violation, it was certainly inconsistent with the requirement that Members act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House,” the report read.

Gaetz previously denied any wrongdoing and was not charged in a separate Justice Department investigation. Shortly after it was reported that the Ethics Committee had voted to share the report, the former Florida congressman blasted the committee in a post on social media.

“I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me,” he said in a post to X on Dec. 18.

Gaetz is right, but the details are dayum:

If you want to read the full 37 page report, the link is right here. I stopped reading right after “commercial sex”.

As sick, icky, cringe as this is, Kurt Schlichter brought up the whole point of adjudication:

Regardless of whether any of this stuff is true, and of what you may think of him, and there’s no reason to believe any of it is – it’s utter trash to leak an “investigation report” about @mattgaetz after he left Congress in such a way that assures that he has absolutely no…

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 23, 2024

The principle that the government shouldn’t be able to trash somebody’s reputation without allowing them the right to confront their witnesses and tested in court is worth defending.

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 23, 2024

As we work to right the ship, we must make sure she is seaworthy. Abandoning principles, even when it’s about Gaetz, won’t keep our ship afloat. Always remember that. Fight, fight, fight!

Featured Image: Ike Hayman, U.S. House Office of Photography/House Creative Services/Wikimedia Commons.org/cropped/Public Domain