Trump ally Matt Gaetz says House Ethics panel issued subpoena for him in sex, drug probe

• Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida said the House Ethics Committee will subpoena him as it investigates whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use.
• The controversial congressman declared he will "no longer voluntarily participate" in the committee's investigation.
• Gaetz reportedly helped Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump prepare for his debate with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

Rep. Matt Gaetz said Thursday that he has learned the House Ethics Committee will subpoena him as it investigates whether the Florida Republican engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor or illicit drug use.

Gaetz, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, made the statement in an angry letter to the Ethics Committee that declared he will "no longer voluntarily participate" in the panel's probe.

Gaetz said he understands that a subpoena has been "issued, but not served" — but did not say whether he would comply with the subpoena.

"I explicitly reserve all of my rights pursuant to House Rules and the U.S. Constitution," he wrote in the letter, which he posted on social media platform X.

Gaetz said the committee asked on Sept. 4 whether he has "engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18."

"The answer to this question is unequivocally NO," he wrote.

But his response to whether he has "illegally taken drugs" was less blunt.

"I have not used drugs which are illegal, absent some law allowing use in a jurisdiction of the United States," he wrote.

"I have not used 'illicit' drugs, which I consider to be drugs unlawful for medical or over-the-counter use everywhere in the United States," Gaetz added.

He called the ethics panel's questions "uncomfortably nosey," suggesting it had asked about "the lawful,