WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Welcome to the "News Hour."

A highly anticipated House Ethics Committee report details a litany of allegations against the former Republican Representative from Florida Matt Gaetz.

Prosecutors previously declined to charge him, but Gaetz's former peers found evidence that he paid several young women for sex, including an underage girl, and partook in numerous drug-fueled sex parties.

Lisa Desjardins spent the day combing through this report about the one-time Trump nominee for attorney general, and she joins us now.

Lisa, this is a very explicit report, and we should just alert our viewers that this is -- what we're going to talk about in the next few minutes is somewhat graphic.

In this report, what really stood out to you?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

Well, this contains very serious allegations and conclusions, very direct conclusions, according to the committee, that Gaetz violated law in a criminal way.

So let's look at some of the main conclusions here.

First of all, they found that, over the course of nearly four years, the committee found that Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women, likely, they write, in connection with or for sex and drugs.

They found that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.

And, according to the committee, that fits Florida's definition, where this activity was alleged to happen, of statutory rape.

Now, I also want to point out that the committee concluded that there is not evidence that he violated sex trafficking laws.

In this report, there is direct testimony from witnesses, including the women involved, but also a very large number of text messages either from Gaetz or naming him in conversations with women.

Now, it's important to say the women in these conversations have said that this activity was consensual.

This is not an allegation of assault.

This instead is about paying for sex.

And the allegation of statutory rape, the committee also goes out of its way to say there's no evidence that Gaetz knew that this girl was 17.

However, they point out, according to them under Florida law, that ignorance of a minor's age is not something that exonerates you.

So, overall, this is a picture, from the committee's view, of a member of Congress who spent years illegally paying for sex and for drugs.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Gaetz fought very hard to stop this report from ever coming out.

What has his response been now that these allegations are out there?

LISA DESJARDINS: He's adamant that this is a politically driven attack on him.

And he has gone even farther.

He's pointed out that the Department of Justice has never charged him with a crime.

And he says that the committee is taking testimony out of context.

His argument, as he put it here on Twitter, you see right there, is, he says, I never paid anyone for sex because they weren't charging me.

I gave the money, essentially, as a gift to these women.

I don't know how that would stand up in court, but that is his argument here.

The committee has said that, in fact, he did this, gave money to these women, after having sex with them many times.

Now, Gaetz is also trying to sue.

He tried to block this report.

He said the committee doesn't have a right to release it now that he's out of Congress.

But at least one Republican, maybe more, and one Democrat on the committee voted to release it.

It's rare to do this, but it is not unprecedented.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, as you said, Lisa, Gaetz is out of Congress.

He has withdrawn as president-elect Trump's nominee for attorney general.

So why are we even paying attention to this?

LISA DESJARDINS: Because he's still in Trump's inner circle, and he hopes to hold political power still in the future.

That includes potentially Florida governor, maybe some positions that don't need Senate approval.

And, also, this is a matter of transparency, an idea that Congress still is an opaque place, where we don't really know about the ethical debates it holds.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One last separate question.

What is happening with Representative Kay Granger?

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

The Texas congresswoman has been in office for 27 years.

I have covered her.

She's a spitfire, a pioneer for Republican women.

But over the weekend, a Dallas newspaper came out with a story that, for months, apparently, she has been, unbeknownst to many of us, in a long-term care facility.

Her son has now said she has issues with dementia.

As I said, no one wanted her to see this kind of decline, but she had a powerful position.

And this is another example where constituents just don't know what's happening with their members, some constituents saying they haven't received services.

She does complete her 27 years in office next week.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Lisa Desjardins, thank you.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.