From the report: “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.”

More: “The record overwhelmingly suggests that Representative Gaetz had sex with multiple women at a 2017 Florida party, including the then-17-year-old, for which they were paid… Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school. Victim A said that she did not inform Representative Gaetz that she was under 18 at the time, nor did he ask her age.”

  • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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    1 day ago

    Now it’s time for Rapey to follow through on his oft made threats to out all the other republicans with sexual skeletons in their closets.

    • Optional@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      “The Committee received testimony that Victim A and Representative Gaetz had sex twice during the party, including at least once in the presence of other party attendees,”

      Ew

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      19 hours ago

      Dude is so gross…

      I believe he doomed himself the moment he publicly mentioned Republican coke orgies. Because of that, I think he might actually see consequences. But maybe not. DeSantis will probably pardon him anyway.

  • orclev@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Pretty sure both of those things violate federal laws too. Not that laws matter with Donvict in charge.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      The article I read earlier said he broke federal laws too. Yet I keep seeing the headline worded this way, seemingly to soften the truth. So fucking disgusting, this country

    • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They didn’t matter with Garland in charge and that’s at least as big of a problem. Whoever manages to remove Trump from office needs to finally hold the whole criminal apparatus that has propped up the Republican party for decades accountable.

        • LeadersAtWork@lemmy.world
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          23 hours ago

          You set a shocking precedent and then write into law that it can never be done again. Pretty much play the Republican game except better. In fact, this could fix pretty much everything. Enact incredible, and sometimes extremely grey, choices and decisions to repair things. Then make sure it could never legally happen again.

          The person or people doing this would have to immediately step down. I would prefer if they took a hit for the team to really cement the sacrifice. Alas, we do not live in that sort of world.

        • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          Charge them for their criminal conduct (e.g. taking bribes), arrest and jail them, impeach them, convict them, and finally imprison them. After that, we should think about reforming the way we select our federal judges and adding seats to different benches.

        • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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          21 hours ago

          The official answer is a constitutional amendment. It seems wild to me that these ever had a chance of passing.

    • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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      24 hours ago

      I dont think there are comparable federal laws for rape. Human trafficking and wire fraud, sure but rape is dependant on the laws of the state. The Federal case was hampered by the lack of credible witnesses. The state of Florida will do nothing because DeSantis and Rapey are good friends.

      • ditty@lemm.ee
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        23 hours ago

        The committee said it did not find sufficient evidence Gaetz violated the federal sex trafficking statute because although he transported women across state lines for the purpose of sex, those women were all 18 or older at the time.

        What exactly is the purpose of that federal sex trafficking law if it doesn’t apply in this case!?

        • Rapidcreek@lemmy.worldOP
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          23 hours ago

          That’s a trafficking charge. But, as far as I know, the Feds had a problem with credible witnesses. The victim is now working as a porn star. The DOJ thought that they shouldn’t prosecute a case they would lose.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    23 hours ago

    I know it’s still illegal, but if he didn’t know that’s not nearly as salacious as what was suggested (I thought this was more than one, like a regular thing). I guess the rumors were hyped up. Or the evidence was not provable enough to document?

    • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      There’s a huge difference between being told their age, and lying about it, and intentionally not asking for their age, knowing they’re a junior in high school (the math is easy) so you have plausible deniability.

      He was a Lawyer FFS. Of course he knows the tricks of the trade.

      He absolutely knew they were underage. But because he explicitly didn’t ask, and they explicitly didn’t tell, he has plausible deniability.

      You don’t fuck around with “teens” and not ask their age/get verification if you’re on the up and up. It’s really fucking easy to ask for their age, or some form of ID to prove it so you avoid jail/legal repercussions.

      Not doing that says a lot more about his intent than anything else in the article.

      • Nollij@sopuli.xyz
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        21 hours ago

        I don’t know Florida’s law, but mine (and others) say things like “did knowingly, or was negligent in”. If they met at a bar/club that’s checking IDs, that would probably be ok. But I somehow doubt that’s where he met the high schooler. High schoolers tend to associate with other high schoolers, in places full of high schoolers.

        • nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          20 hours ago

          It was at a sex party after paying a friend $400 to provide the girl. If you didn’t ask questions then it’s because you didn’t want to know.

    • nimble@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      20 hours ago

      The document found gaetz violated floridas statutory rape law.

      The report found many laws broken, but the DOJ was not acting on any of the information during their investigation and it sounds like were not particularly helpful in the House Committee’s investigation.

      So just because gaetz wasn’t charged with anything doesn’t mean that he didn’t break any laws. The house report and appendices have quite a bit of evidence in it including text conversations, interviews with victims, payment history, and more.