"The letter was first reported by Marc Caputo of NeverTrump outlet The Bulwark, but Hemingway noted how it dovetailed with numerous other issues with the report.

"At the outset, I’ll note the release of your committee’s report is bizarre, Congressman Gaetz is no longer subject to your jurisdiction, and the precedential effect of the release of this report cannot be overstated,” a lawyer for Chris Dorworth, the man mentioned, wrote in a letter to House Ethics Committee chair Rep. Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican.

The letter went on to list "three demonstrably false statements within your report” regarding Dorworth.

The first involved a mention that "Mr. Dorworth believed that Representative Gaetz invited people to his home on the evening of July 15, 2017.” This evening was critical, inasmuch as the most problematic allegation in the report — that Gaetz paid to have sex with a minor — happened on that night at Dorworth’s home.

"No, Mr. Dorworth did not and has never believed that Representative Gaetz invited people to his house on July 15, 2017,” the letter stated.

"To support your claim that Gaetz ‘invited’ people to my client’s home, you cite, in footnote 97, a gate log that doesn’t include Gaetz’s name on it and reference an affidavit and deposition transcripts that say nothing about Gaetz inviting anyone to my client’s home.” [Emphasis theirs.]

Furthermore, the letter stated, "Mr. Dorworth’s deposition transcript does not support this statement in your report, and it should be retracted immediately.”

Again, this basically undermines the most serious allegation completely, inasmuch as the Ethics Committee’s report relies upon Dorworth’s memories of that evening and the fact that he lived in a complex where "non-residents are required to present a driver’s license before entering, and entry records are maintained.”

If those entry records don’t have Gaetz’s name on them, they were either 1) tampered with, or 2) the preponderance of the evidence regarding the allegation shifts radically.

The second discrepancy also involves that allegation, noting that "Mr. Dorworth was deposed and confronted with cell phone records showing that he was in fact at his residence during the party.”

"As an attendee at Mr. Dorworth’s deposition, I can assure you he was never ‘confronted with any cell phone records,” adding that the records "were deemed ‘Attorneys Eyes Only’ at the time of Mr. Dorworth’s deposition” and that he was "mortified that the Committee on Ethics would include such a ridiculous conclusion” in its report.

The third alleged discrepancy, later in the same paragraph: "The Committee requested, through counsel, that Mr. Dorworth clarify his testimony regarding his whereabouts on the evening of July 15, 2017; his counsel did not respond.”

His counsel, being the author of this letter, noted that he did, saying he emailed the staff on Sept. 6 of this year.

"Interesting. The House ‘Ethics’ Committee is caught here just flat out lying about three things in its report on Matt Gaetz. (In addition to all the other alleged falsehoods),” Hemingway noted in an X repost of the letter:

Interesting. The House "Ethics” Committee is caught here just flat out lying about three things in its report on Matt Gaetz. (In addition to all the other alleged falsehoods) https://t.co/OwYyBRZS8F

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 24, 2024

Again, it’s difficult to overstate how damning serious mistakes in this part of the report would be, particularly given the decision to release it absent any real reason to do so; without substantial evidence that Gaetz paid to have sex with a minor, what you have is essentially a log of someone’s alleged substance use disorder and/or dysfunctional sex life the better part of a decade ago.

And again, this isn’t the only issue with the report. As Hemingway noted in a November article, "the same two central witnesses the House Ethics Committee has relied on for its critical report of Gaetz” are the two witnesses whose credibility issues led the Department of Justice to drop its investigation of Gaetz in 2022."

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