Kevin Mccarthy blames ouster on Matt Gaetz's sexual misconduct allegations probe

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is pulling no punches about the real reason he believes he was ousted from power, according to new reports.

The former Republican leader appeared Tuesday night at a Georgetown University event on the strength of American democracy and predictably found himself discussing his ejection from the House speakership in 2023, according to reporter Ben Jacobs and Politico.

"McCarthy says the only reason that he is not Speaker," Jacobs reported, "is because 'one person wanted me to stop an ethics complaint"' linked to accusations he'd had sex with a 17-year-old girl.

According to Politico, McCarthy added a caveat: "Did he do it? I don't know."

While Jacobs does not specify to whom McCarthy was referring, one House Republican led the charge to remove the former speaker and has found himself embroiled in an investigation as to whether he had sex with a minor of that age: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

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When McCarthy was ejected from the speakership by a motion to vacate the chair, after eight Republicans, including Gaetz (R-FL), joined with all Democrats to remove him, resulting in weeks of chaos that finally culminated with the selection of Mike Johnson (R-LA) to replace him. Gaetz has publicly said it was because McCarthy broke deals he made with the far-right House Freedom Caucus.

McCarthy was likely referring to an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz.

According to Politico, Gaetz publicly maintains he did nothing wrong and argues the Ethics Committee probe is payback for leading the effort to oust McCarthy.

The FBI separately investigated the sex trafficking claim, and while one of Gaetz's associates, former Florida county tax official Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking, Gaetz himself was never prosecuted.

The congressman has always adamantly denied he was involved in sexual offenses of any sort. However, he has privately admitted to associates that he did indeed move to oust McCarthy as revenge for not making the investigation go away.

McCarthy has previously stated he also believes that Gaetz is breaking the law in order to try to quash the probe.

Earlier this year, reports indicated that the investigation is moving ahead, with Greenberg's attorney providing documents to the Ethics Committee purporting to back up Greenberg's claim he witnessed Gaetz having sex with the girl.