Kevin McCarthy says sexual misconduct allegations against Matt Gaetz is why he was ousted

Jim Little, Pensacola News Journal
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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blamed U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz's desire to squash an ethics complaint into allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz as the reason he was removed as House Speaker.

"I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker," McCarthy said speaking to an audience at Georgetown University on Tuesday. "It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old, an ethics complaint that started before I ever became speaker. And that's illegal, and I'm not going to get in the middle of it. Did he do it or not? I don't know, but ethics is looking at it. There's other people in jail because of it, and he wanted me to influence it."

McCarthy's comments were aired on the CSPAN cable network.

The Justice Department investigated allegations against Gaetz. The investigation was closed last year and the department told Gaetz's lawyers that he would not be charged.

Gaetz has strongly denied any wrongdoing multiple times.

Gaetz responded Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying McCarthy is a liar.

"Kevin McCarthy is a liar," Gaetz wrote. "That’s why he is no longer speaker. Just ask the 224 people who voted to remove him."

McCarthy made similar comments that Gaetz wanted an ethics investigation squashed after his ouster from the speakership, but this week's comments were the first time that he tied the ethics investigation into Gaetz directly to allegations that Gaetz slept with a 17-year-old.

Multiple national media outlets have reported that a House ethics investigation into Gaetz is still active.

Gaetz led the effort to remove McCarthy from his speakership last year that threw the House GOP into chaos for three weeks until current House Speaker Mike Johnson was elected.

"I think historically it'll be viewed as very bad thing that happened to our Congress," McCarthy said Tuesday.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Kevin McCarthy blames Matt Gaetz ethics investigation for his removal