House Ethics Committee expands Rep. Matt Gaetz sexual misconduct investigation

• The House Ethics Committee said it has identified "additional allegations" against Rep. Matt Gaetz "that merit review," as it continues to investigate the Florida Republican over claims of "sexual misconduct and illicit drug use."
• The Ethics Committee said it is now eyeing claims that Gaetz "dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct."
• The ethics panel also said it had difficulty in obtaining relevant information from Gaetz and others since the probe began in April 2021, amid a federal criminal sex trafficking investigation of Gaetz and a friend, Joel Greenberg.

The House Ethics Committee said Tuesday it has identified "additional allegations" against Rep. Matt Gaetz "that merit review," as it continues to investigate the Florida Republican over claims of what it called "sexual misconduct and illicit drug use."

The Ethics Committee said it is now eyeing claims that Gaetz — who denies wrongdoing — "dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct."

The ethics panel also said it had difficulty in obtaining relevant information from Gaetz and others since the probe began in April 2021 amid a federal criminal sex trafficking investigation of Gaetz and a friend, Joel Greenberg. That criminal probe ended with a guilty plea by Greenberg, but no charges were filed against Gaetz.

After conducting interviews with more than a dozen witnesses and examining thousands of pages of documents, the committee said it has "determined that certain of the allegations merit continued review."

"During the course of its