GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Tom Reed face ethics investigations in House usatoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usatoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
WASHINGTON
The House Ethics committee announced Friday that it is investigating sexual misconduct allegations involving Republican Rep. Tom Reed of New York, who had announced he would not be seeking re-election after the allegations first surfaced last month.
Reed was accused of rubbing a female lobbyist’s back and unhooking her bra without her consent at a networking event in a Minneapolis pub in 2017. The lobbyist, Nicolette Davis, told The Washington Post that Reed appeared to be drunk when he touched her back and leg as the two were seated next to each other during a networking trip.
Reed apologized to Davis shortly after the story became public and said in a statement that the incident occurred “at a time in my life in which I was struggling.” He said he entered treatment that year and realized he was “powerless over alcohol.”
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The House Committee on Ethics announced two separate probes into Reps. Matt Gaetz and Tom Reed Friday over allegations of sexual misconduct Friday.
The allegations against Gaetz, R-Fla., include campaign finance violations as well as claims of taking bribes and using drugs, according to the committee statement. Once again, the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human being willing to put their name behind them, Gaetz’s office said in a statement.
Gaetz has been at the center of growing scrutiny following news that the Justice Department had launched a probe into sex trafficking allegations involving an underage girl.
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The House Ethics Committee is opening an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz after it was revealed that the Justice Department is looking into whether he had sex with a minor and violated sex trafficking laws.
The Florida Republican, who denies the allegations, also reportedly showed sexually explicit photos to colleagues on the House floor and bragged about his sexual endeavors and may have misused campaign funds to pay for travel expenses for women. The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct, the ethics panel said in a statement.
Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and announced that it was investigating another Republican, New York Rep.
Tom Reed, for unrelated reasons.
The committee said it was “aware of public allegations” that Reed had engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of House “rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”
The Washington Post reported on allegations last month by a former lobbyist,
Nicolette Davis, that Reed, 49, harassed her in 2017.
Davis, who was 25 at the time, said the incident happened at an Irish pub in Minneapolis when she was representing Aflac on a trip aimed a helping former Rep.
Erik Paulsen (R-MN). “A drunk congressman is rubbing my back,” she texted colleagues at the time. “HELP HELP.”