Rep. Matt Gaetz (R–FL) defended himself in a Washington Examiner op-ed on Monday amid allegations of sexual misconduct and a DOJ investigation into alleged sex trafficking and prostitution.
“Let me first remind everyone that I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal,” Gaetz wrote.
The Florida congressman, who is one of Donald Trump’s staunchest defenders in Congress suggested that he’s being targeted by political foes because he “loathes the swamp.”
“Just as they once falsely attacked President Donald Trump as a Russian asset, Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a gang rapist, and even John McCain as having fathered a child out of wedlock, they now attack me,” Gaetz wrote.
“Folks won’t be surprised that bizarre claims are being made about me shortly after I decided to take on the most powerful institutions in the Beltway: the establishment; the FBI; the Biden Justice Department; the Cheney political dynasty; even the Justice Department under Trump,” he added.
He predicted that “some of my feckless colleagues in Congress” will call for him to step down.
“I am absolutely not resigning,” he wrote.
Gaetz is under investigation by DOJ into whether he paid women, and a 17-year-old girl, for sex. He has denied having sexual relations with the teenager.
“First, I have never, ever paid for sex. And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old,” Gaetz wrote.
Gaetz did not address the CNN report that he showed off to other lawmakers–sometimes on the House floor– photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with.
As he struggles to keep his political career alive, he has so far received almost no public support from his congressional Republican colleagues and none from Donald Trump.
