Matt Gaetz’s private note from Donald Trump revealed after damning ethics report release

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz shared an image of a note he received from newly elected President Donald Trump after a scathing ethics report on his alleged sexual misconduct and drug use was released.

The report accused Gaetz of paying more than $90,000 for sex, including with a minor, and handing out illegal drug “party favors.”

“I got a great note from President Trump!” Gaetz wrote and shared an image on social media.

The image featured a Federalist article by journalist Mollie Hemingway that examined the claims against Gaetz before the investigation.

“Matt, very unfair!” Trump wrote in his signature handwriting with a black Sharpie marker.

It is unclear when Trump sent the message to Gaetz as the article was dated November 17, 2024.

Hemingway reported that the witnesses who testified before the House Ethics Committee had “serious credibility issues,” noting that the Justice Department had dropped the investigation against Gaetz because of their unreliable testimony.

The article explains how the claims emerged from corrupt Florida politician Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector currently serving 11 years in prison.

Greenberg has a history of making unsubstantiated accusations of inappropriate sexual relationships and using testimony from the two women involved with Gaetz.

“The DOJ decided that the people who made the allegations against Gaetz had such enormous credibility problems that they had no way to accuse him of any crime,” Hemingway wrote.

“All the House Ethics Committee has done is revive the same allegations from the same unreliable witnesses.”

The House Ethics Committee voted just before Christmas to release the investigation against Gaetz, even though he had resigned from Congress.

Two Republicans, Dave Joyce of Ohio and Andrew Garbarino of New York, joined Democrats on the panel to release the report.

“From 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz made tens of thousands of dollars in payments to women that the committee determined were likely related to sexual activity and/or drug use,” the report said.

Gaetz admitted last week that he probably “feminized and partied” more than he should have, but denied any criminal activity.

‘My thirties were an era of very hard work – and also hard play. It’s embarrassing, but not criminal, that I’ve probably partied, womanized, drank, and smoked more than I should have earlier in my life,” Gaetz wrote on X.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is running with his wife Ginger

U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) at the Republican National Convention

On Monday, he published information about the case on social media, suggesting the allegations were part of a defamation lawsuit.

“There is a reason they did this to me in a report on Christmas Eve and not in a courtroom where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” Gaetz wrote.

The Florida congressman resigned from Congress in mid-November, just before the report was expected to be released, and was suddenly named by Trump as his choice to serve as attorney general.

Gaetz eventually withdrew his name from consideration after it became clear he would not gain enough support in the Senate to secure confirmation.

The former congressman announced plans to host his own primetime television show on the conservative One America News Network in January.

Gaetz teased a possible return to politics at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Sunday.

“Floridians have asked me to tour the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, perhaps a special counsel to uncover insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress,” Gaetz said.

“It seems like I may not have had enough support in the U.S. Senate. Maybe I’ll run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate and join some of those people.”