Kevin McCarthy blames Rep. Matt Gaetz's ethics problems for his ouster as House Speaker.

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday blamed Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-FL) ethics problems for his ouster.

“You made a lot of concessions in the negotiations,” said moderator and political strategist Mo Elleithee, referring to McCarthy’s election as House Speaker in January 2023.

“No, I didn't,” McCarthy said. “I'll give you the truth why I'm not Speaker. It's because one person — a member of Congress — wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old.”

McCarthy alluded to Gaetz, who has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sex trafficking and paying for sex with an underage girl. The House investigation was paused while the Justice Department investigated Gaetz. After the DoJ dropped its investigation in February 2023, the House probe resumed. Gaetz has denied all allegations.

“Did he do it or not? I don't know. But ethics is looking at it,” McCarthy continued. “There's other people in jail because of it. And he wanted me to influence it.”In December 2022, Gaetz's former associate Joel Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and other crimes.