So we got a bombshell today during what is usually one of the quietest weeks in Washington all year.

The House Ethics Committee released its final report on Matt Gates, the now former Republican Congressman and

breakout Magistar, who Trump wanted to be his attorney general. Now, it does cover some things

we basically knew before. I mean, we knew from multiple reports that Gates had paid women for sex.

We knew one of those women was alleged to have been underage, and we knew Gates ultimately

did not face federal charges

for his conduct. But the committee's findings in this 42-page report were still eye-popping,

and maybe a little too vivid in the level of detail at times. And they assert that Gates

did likely break the law. Overall, they concluded that, quote, there was substantial evidence

that Representative Gates

violated House rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting

prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision

of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress, that's just part of the report.

And the gritty details back up a whole lot of the reporting over the years about Gates's

creepy conduct. It also says, quote, from 2017 to 2020, Gates made tens of thousands of dollars

in payments to women that the committee determined were likely in connection with

sexual activity and

or drug use. In fact, according to committee's investigators, he paid 12 women, almost $100,000

during that time frame. Among those women was victim A, a minor who at the time of her encounter

with Gates in 2017 had just completed her junior year of high school.

Let that sit with you for just a second. In her testimony to the committee, she recalled receiving

$400 in cash from Representative Gates, which she understood to be payment for sex.

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