Kevin McCarthy blames his historic ousting on Matt Gaetz 'sleeping with a 17-year-old girl' and trying to shut down the ethics investigation into him

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday night that he lost his job because he refused to help Rep. Matt Gaetz cover up 'sleeping with a 17-year-old.' 

'I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker,' McCarthy said at a Georgetown University talk entitled 'How Strong Is Our Democracy?'

'It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old,' the California Republican went on. 'Did he do it or not? I don't know.'

McCarthy has long accused Gaetz of launching the historic motion to vacate that ousted him from the speakership last year over an ongoing ethics investigation into his conduct.

Gaetz shot back to the speaker's accusation on X: 'Kevin McCarthy is a liar. That’s why he is no longer speaker. Just ask the 224 people who voted to remove him.'

McCarthy said Tuesday night that he lost his job because of Rep. Matt Gaetz 'sleeping with a 17-year-old'

McCarthy has long accused Gaetz of launching the historic motion to vacate that ousted him from the speakership over an ongoing Ethics investigation into his conduct

In February, McCarthy suggested married Gaetz 'lies about who he sleeps with.' 

The House Ethics Committee first opened an investigation into Gaetz in April 2021, but paused it during while the Department of Justice launched their own investigation into the member.

The DOJ eventually decided not to bring charges against Gaetz.

The House Ethics Committee, however, has reopened their probe into the Floridian.

Additionally, newly reported text messages show Gaetz soliciting a young woman who his now-imprisoned pal Joel Greenberg had paid for sex to join him on a three-day excursion to the Florida Keys.

The messages, reported by ABC News, allegedly occurred in May 2017, months after the Florida Republican was sworn into office.

Texts described in detail to the outlet reportedly show Gaetz asking the woman to fly on a private plane and join him, one other woman and three other men in the Keys.

McCarthy is the only speaker to ever lose the gavel mid-term in Congress. He subsequently left the House and has left no holds barred since on the eight Republicans who voted to oust him.