A former US lawmaker who was Donald Trump’s first pick to run the Justice Department paid for sex numerous times, including with an underage girl, according to a congressional report released Monday.

Matt Gaetz also regularly used cocaine and ecstasy, and bought marijuana from his Capitol Hill office, according to the 37-page document, the culmination of a long-running probe by the House Ethics Committee.

“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,” panel investigators wrote, according to reports.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing — pointing to the Justice Department’s decision not to bring charges against him in 2023 after a criminal probe — and the report came out despite him suing the committee to block its release.

Congressional investigators found that the 42-year-old broke multiple Florida laws on sexual misconduct, although they cleared him of federal sex trafficking violations.

The report listed payments by Gaetz totaling more than $90,000 to 12 women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use” between 2017 and 2020.

They focused on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas during which Gaetz is alleged to have had sex with four women and took the ecstasy.

The ex-congressman is an incendiary figure with few friends on Capitol Hill, but was a staunch Trump loyalist and a favorite of the president-elect’s ardent supporters.

He resigned from Congress in November after Trump nominated him for US attorney general.

– ‘High school’ victim –

The allegations had been openly discussed for years and Gaetz withdrew from consideration when it became clear he lacked sufficient backing from Republicans to win Senate confirmation.

Gaetz posted a series of tweets refuting some of the allegations in the report, including that he paid for sex.

“Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” he posted on X.

“There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.”

Women told congressional investigators they were paid for sex at parties and other events by Gaetz and his friend Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida who was jailed for 11 years.

One encounter allegedly involved a 17-year-old girl, who told the committee she had sex with Gaetz twice at a July 2017 party.

“Victim A recalled receiving $400 in cash from Representative Gaetz that evening, which she understood to be payment for sex. At the time, she had just completed her junior year of high school,” the report says.

All the women who testified said the sexual encounters with Gaetz were consensual. Gaetz denied having sex with a minor in written responses to the committee.

Two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea early Sunday in “an apparent case of friendly fire,” the US military said.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels said later on Sunday they had “targeted” the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman a day earlier in an operation that led to “shooting down an F-18 aircraft” and thwarting “American-British aggression” against Yemen.

United States Central Command said late on Saturday that both US pilots were recovered alive but “initial assessments indicate that one of the crew members sustained minor injuries”.

This incident, “was not the result of hostile fire, and a full investigation is underway,” CENTCOM said.

The potentially disastrous mistake underscores the dangers of a mission the United States has been involved in for more than a year to counter Yemen’s Huthi rebels.

The Huthis have repeatedly targeted merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, waterways vital to global trade.

CENTCOM said the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg “mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18” fighter aircraft, which Navy pilots had flown off the USS Harry S Truman.

On Saturday the United States said it struck targets including a missile storage facility in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Sanaa, hours after a Huthi rebel missile wounded people in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.

US forces also shot down multiple Huthi attack drones and an anti-ship cruise missile over the Red Sea, CENTCOM said.

“The operation involved US Air Force and US Navy assets, including F/A-18s,” CENTCOM said.

The Huthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023.

The death toll from a tragic stampede in Anambra State has risen to 22, local authorities confirmed on Sunday.

The Anambra State Police Command, through its spokesman Superintendent Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed that the police have commenced an investigation into the incident. Ikenga also stated that several injured victims are receiving medical treatment.

“The Commissioner of Police, Nnaghe Obono Itam, visited the hospital where the victims of the tragic stampede that occurred on December 21, 2024, in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area, are receiving treatment,” Ikenga said. “Regrettably, 22 people lost their lives. The CP commiserates with the families and friends of the deceased and wishes the injured a quick recovery.”

The stampede occurred on Saturday during a rice distribution event at Amaranta Stadium in Okija. The event, organized by the Obijackson Foundation, was intended to provide relief to residents.

A Pattern of Tragedy

The Anambra incident follows a series of similar tragedies across the country. Earlier in December, a stampede at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, Abuja, claimed 10 lives. A few days prior, a children’s funfair in Ibadan, Oyo State, ended in disaster, with 35 children losing their lives and six others critically injured.

The string of incidents has raised serious concerns about crowd management during large-scale events in Nigeria. Prominent figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, have called for urgent reforms.

“It is with a heavy heart and deep sorrow that I receive yet again the heartbreaking news of lives lost in tragic stampedes, this time in Okija, Anambra, and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory,” Atiku wrote on his X handle late Saturday. “It is imperative that those entrusted with the organization of such large-scale events take the utmost care in crowd management, prioritizing the safety and well-being of all participants.”

Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, lamented the incidents as a reflection of the rising desperation caused by hunger in Nigeria.

“I am deeply saddened and distressed by the tragic loss of lives in desperate searches for food,” Obi wrote on X. “While I will not cast blame, I appreciate the organizers of these events for their kind gestures. However, these tragedies reflect the systemic failures that plague our society.”

A Call for Reform

The recent stampedes underscore the urgent need for better planning and safety protocols at public events. Experts and stakeholders are calling on authorities and event organizers to adopt stringent crowd management strategies to prevent future tragedies.

Meanwhile, families of the victims continue to mourn their loss, as the nation grapples with the deepening economic challenges that have driven many to desperation.