Former Rep. Kevin McCarthy says he was ousted as speaker of the House by a member of Congress who "wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old."
McCarthy's removal from the chamber came after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who is the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe for alleged sexual misconduct, filed a motion to vacate the seat in October 2023.
"I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old," McCarthy said Tuesday, while speaking at Georgetown University.
Noting that he was unsure whether the individual was guilty of sexual misconduct, McCarthy insisted the lawmaker he was referencing wanted him to step in and "influence" the investigation during his tenure as House Speaker.
KEVIN MCCARTHY TAKES PARTING SHOT AT MATT GAETZ AS HE EXITS CONGRESS: ‘HE WAS PSYCHOTIC’
"An ethics complaint that started before I ever became speaker. And that's illegal. And I'm not going to get in the middle," the former California lawmaker added. "Did he do it or not? I don't know. But ethics is looking at it. And there's other people in jail because of it, and he wanted me to influence it."
McCarthy did not specifically name Gaetz as the individual he was talking about, but Gaetz was the member of Congress who introduced the motion to oust the former speaker.
"Kevin is a liar. Which, actually, is why he isn’t Speaker," Gaetz said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Just ask any of the 224 people who voted to remove him."
Gaetz, who has represented Florida's 1st Congressional District since 2017, has been under investigation for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl he paid to travel with him. The Justice Department recently halted its probe into allegations of sex trafficking, but the House committee continues weighing the allegations.
McCarthy has made similar comments regarding Gaetz, charging in November that the congressman "belongs in jail."
"You have a cross-section [of the delegation]," McCarthy told Politico when asked about the House's Florida Republicans. "You have Gaetz, who belongs in jail, and you have serious members."
Gaetz hit back at McCarthy's comment, saying "the only assault I committed was against Kevin’s fragile ego."
Gaetz has a history of controversial allegations regarding his alleged behavior around women. Before the sex trafficking investigation was launched, it was previously reported Gaetz would brag about his sexual experiences to his colleagues in Congress and allegedly show fellow lawmakers nude photos of women he had slept with, CNN reported.
Joel Greenberg, a former associate of Gaetz, is serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to a sex trafficking probe. Gaetz has continuously denied the allegations and any accusation of wrongdoing, with a spokesman saying Gaetz "never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex."
