In a rare public statement, the Ethics Committee responded, denying Gaetz’s lie that he had been cleared and detailing the initial claims against him, including “sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”

The panel is still probing Gaetz's alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use but says it has ceased investigating claims that he shared explicit images on the House floor, used campaign funds for personal reasons, or accepted bribes.

It confirmed that “in the course of its investigation, the Committee has also identified additional allegations that merit review,” and reiterated the myriad sleazy allegations—that Gaetz “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

That doesn’t sound like any kind of an exoneration.

Gaetz is still blaming former Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the investigations, even though McCarthy is long gone.

“This is Soviet. Kevin McCarthy showed them the man, and they are now trying to find the crime. I work for Northwest Floridians who won't be swayed by this nonsense and McCarthy and his goons know it,” he said.

Gaetz led the effort to oust McCarthy due to this investigation, over which the former speaker really had no control, and the two have been publicly feuding ever since. McCarthy was also involved in vetting Gaetz’s primary opponent, Aaron Dimmock.

“Gaetz is the Hunter Biden of the Republican Party,” McCarthy told Politico. “He’s got an opponent who is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, trained at Pensacola, went to the Naval Academy, and flew jets to defend us while Gaetz was getting kicked out of high school, buying coke, and paying minors for sex.”

And now he’s accused of trying to obstruct the investigation of these allegations. What a guy. A normal member of Congress wouldn’t want to draw this kind of attention to themself, but Gaetz sure isn’t normal.