【中美创新时报2024 年 12 月 23 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）众议院道德委员会周一指控马特·盖茨在担任佛罗里达州共和党国会议员期间“经常”为女性（包括一名 17 岁女孩）买单，并购买和使用非法药物。美联社记者FARNOUSH AMIRI对此作了下述报道。
这份由两党组成的委员会编写的长达 37 页的报告详细描述了现年 42 岁的盖茨在代表佛罗里达州西部狭长地带期间参加的充满性爱的派对和度假。调查结果得出结论，他在任职期间违反了多项与性行为不端有关的州法律。
报告指出：“委员会认定，有充分证据表明，盖茨议员违反了众议院规则和其他行为准则，禁止卖淫、法定强奸、非法吸毒、非法赠送礼物、特殊恩惠或特权以及妨碍国会。”
该报告结束了对盖茨近五年的调查。本月早些时候，至少有一名共和党人与委员会的所有五名民主党人一起秘密投票决定公布关于他们前同事的报告，尽管包括众议院议长迈克·约翰逊在内的共和党议员最初反对公布关于前国会议员的调查结果。
虽然道德报告以前曾在议员辞职后发布，但这种情况极为罕见。盖茨一再否认所有不当行为，上周表示，作为前众议院议员，他“没有机会辩论或反驳”调查结果。
周一，盖茨提起诉讼，试图阻止该报告的发布，称该报告包含“不真实和诽谤性信息”，将“严重损害”他在“社区中的地位和声誉”。盖茨在申诉中称，自从他辞去国会议员职务后，他就不再受委员会的管辖。
“委员会的立场是，它可能会发布关于一个它声称没有管辖权的私人公民的潜在诽谤性调查结果，这代表了国会权力的前所未有的扩张，威胁到基本宪法权利和既定的程序保护，”盖茨的律师在申请临时限制令的请求中写道。
这个经常秘密行事的两党小组自 2021 年以来一直在调查针对盖茨的指控。然而，上个月，当选总统唐纳德·特朗普选择盖茨作为他的司法部长提名人，其工作变得更加紧迫。盖茨当天辞去国会议员职务，使他脱离了道德委员会的管辖范围。
但即使在盖茨不再是民主党成员并退出特朗普提名的司法部部长后，民主党仍坚持要求公开该报告。本月，众议院强制公布该报告的投票失败；除一名共和党人外，所有人都投了反对票。
美联社记者丽莎·马斯卡罗和阿兰娜·杜尔金·里彻对本报告做出了贡献。
题图：前众议员马特·盖茨。Rick Scuteri/美联社
附原英文报道：
House Ethics Committee accuses Matt Gaetz of ‘regularly’ paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girl
By FARNOUSH AMIRI The Associated Press,Updated December 23, 2024
Former representative Matt Gaetz. Rick Scuteri/Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee on Monday accused Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and purchasing and using illicit drugs all while the Florida Republican was a member of Congress.
The 37-page report by the bipartisan panel includes explicit details of sex-filled parties and vacations that Gaetz, now 42, took part in while representing Florida’s western panhandle. The findings conclude that he violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.
“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 report states.
The report brings to a close a nearly five-year investigation into Gaetz. Its release comes after at least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the panel earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to publishing findings about a former member of Congress.
While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare. Gaetz has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing, saying last week that he would have “no opportunity to debate or rebut” the findings as a former member of the House.
On Monday, Gaetz filed a lawsuit seeking to block the report’s release, saying it contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his “standing and reputation in the community.” Gaetz’s complaint argues he’s no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction since he resigned from Congress.
“The Committee’s position that it may nonetheless publish potentially defamatory findings about a private citizen over whom it claims no jurisdiction represents an unprecedented expansion of Congressional power that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” Gaetz’s lawyers wrote in their request for a temporary restraining order.
The often secretive, bipartisan panel has investigated claims against Gaetz since 2021. However, its work became more urgent last month when President-elect Donald Trump picked Gaetz as his attorney general nominee. Gaetz resigned from Congress that same day, putting him outside the purview of the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction.
But Democrats had pressed to make the report public even after Gaetz was no longer a member and had withdrawn as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department. A vote on the House floor this month to force the report’s release failed; all but one Republican voted against it.
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
