Hey, ‘I’m not a monk’ – Gaetz

Embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Monday he will not resign from Congress and defended himself against allegations involving sex with underage girls and trafficking as a former congressional aide stepped forward to vouch for his embattled ex-boss.

The staunchly pro-Trump lawmaker forcefully declared his innocence and suggested that his political foes were trying to smear his name because he “loathes the swamp.”

But the 38-year-old also acknowledged having an active “lifestyle,” before getting engaged on New Year’s Eve. “I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal,” Gaetz wrote in an op-ed piece for the right-wing Washington Examiner news outlet. “My lifestyle of yesteryear may be different from how I live now, but it was not and is not illegal.”

The Florida representative is under scrutiny by federal prosecutors over whether he had sex with a teenager and other underage girls and violated federal sex-trafficking laws. That’s according to people familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they could not discuss details publicly. To date, he has not been charged with any crimes. “First, I have never, ever paid for sex,” he wrote. “And second, I, as an adult man, have not slept with a 17-year-old.”