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wow mali refreshing Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., center, attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., attends the cocktail hour of New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee’s on documents a trove of , including sex with an underage girl, that . Citing text messages, travel receipts, online payments and testimony, the bipartisan committee paints a picture of a lifestyle in which Gaetz and others connected with younger women for drug-fueled parties, events or trips, with the expectation the women would be paid for their participation. The former congressman, who filed a last-minute lawsuit to try to block the report’s release on Monday, slammed the committee’s findings. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has insisted he never had sex with a minor. And a ended without any criminal charges filed against him. “Giving funds to someone you are dating — that they didn’t ask for — and that isn’t ‘charged’ for sex is now prostitution?!?” Gaetz wrote in one post on Monday. “There is a reason they did this to me in a Christmas Eve-Eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses.” Here’s a look at some of the committee’s key findings: The committee found that between 2017 and 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars to women “likely in connection with sexual activity and/or drug use.” He paid the women using through online services such as PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp and with cash or check, the committee said. The committee said it found evidence that Gaetz understood the “transactional nature” of his relationships with the women. The report points to one text exchange in which Gaetz balked at a woman’s request that he send her money, “claiming she only gave him a ‘drive by.’” Women interviewed by the committee said there was a “general expectation of sex,” the report said. One woman who received more than $5,000 from Gaetz between 2018 and 2019 said that “99 percent of the time” that when she hung out with Gaetz “there was sex involved.” However, Gaetz was in a long-term relationship with one of the women he paid, so “some of the payments may have been of a legitimate nature,” the committee said. Text messages obtained by the committee also show that Gaetz would ask the women to bring drugs to their “rendezvous,” the report said. While most of his encounters with the women were in Florida, the committee said Gaetz also traveled “on several occasions” with women whom he paid for sex. The report includes text message exchanges in which Gaetz appears to be inviting various women to events, getaways or parties, and arranging airplane travel and lodging. Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, in 2021, initially connected with women through an online service. In one text with a 20-year-old woman, Greenberg suggested if she has a friend, the four of them could meet up. The woman responded that she usually does “$400 per meet.” Greenberg replied: “He understands the deal,” along with a smiley face emoji. Greenberg asks if they are old enough to drink alcohol, and sent the woman a picture of Gaetz. The woman responded that her friend found him “really cute.” “Well, he’s down here for only for the day, we work hard and play hard,” Greenberg replied. The report details a party in July 2017 in which Gaetz is accused of having sex with “multiple women, including the 17-year-old, for which they were paid.” The committee pointed to “credible testimony” from the now-woman herself as well as “multiple individuals” who corroborated the allegation. The then-17-year-old — who had just completed her junior year in high school — told the committee that Gaetz paid her $400 in cash that night, “which she understood to be payment for sex,” according to the report. The woman acknowledged that she had taken ecstasy the night of the party, but told the committee that she was “certain” of her sexual encounters with the then-congressman. There’s no evidence that Gaetz knew she was a minor when he had sex with her, the committee said. The woman told the committee she didn’t tell Gaetz she was under 18 at the time and that he didn’t how old she was. Rather, the committee said Gaetz learned she was a minor more than a month after the party. But he stayed in touch with her after that and met up with her for “commercial sex” again less than six months after she turned 18, according to the committee. In sum, the committee said it authorized 29 subpoenas for documents and testimony, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents and contacted more than two dozen witnesses. But when the committee subpoenaed Gaetz for his testimony, he failed to comply. “Gaetz pointed to evidence that would ‘exonerate’ him yet failed to produce any such materials,” the committee said. Gaetz “continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead the Committee in order to prevent his actions from being exposed.” The report details a months-long process that dragged into a year as it sought information from Gaetz that he decried as “nosey” and a “weaponization” of government against him. In one notable exchange, investigators were seeking information about the expenses for a 2018 get-away with multiple women to the Bahamas. Gaetz ultimately offered up his plane ticket receipt “to” the destination, but declined to share his return “from” the Bahamas. The report said his return on a private plane and other expenses paid by an associate were in violation of House gift rules. In another Gaetz told the committee he would “welcome” the opportunity to respond to written questions. Yet, after it sent a list of 16 questions, Gaetz said publicly he would “no longer” voluntarily cooperate. He called the investigation “frivolous,” adding: “Every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.” The report said that while Gaetz’s obstruction of the investigation does not rise to a criminal violation it is inconsistent with the requirement that all members of Congress “act in a manner that reflects creditably upon the House.” The committee its review of Gaetz in April 2021 and deferred its work in response to a Justice Department request. It renewed its work shortly after Gaetz that the Justice Department had ended a sex trafficking investigation without filing any charges against him. The committee sought records from the Justice Department about the probe, but the agency refused, saying it doesn’t disclose information about investigations that don’t result in charges. The committee then subpoenaed the Justice Department, but after a back-and-forth between officials and the committee, the department handed over “publicly reported information about the testimony of a deceased individual,” according to the report. “To date, DOJ has provided no meaningful evidence or information to the Committee or cited any lawful basis for its responses,” the committee said. Many of the women who the committee spoke to had already given statements to the Justice Department and didn’t want to “relive their experience,” the committee said. “They were particularly concerned with providing additional testimony about a sitting congressman in light of DOJ’s lack of action on their prior testimony,” the report said. The Justice Department, however, never handed over the women’s statements. The agency’s lack of cooperation — along with its request that the committee pause its investigation — significantly delayed the committee’s probe, lawmakers said.

Ancient meets modern as a new subway in Greece showcases archaeological treasures

Polite, unmistakably cultured, and endowed with creativity, my London-based friend Achala Sharma becomes uncharacteristically stern when someone refers to the great Indian singer, the late Mohammed Rafi (1924-1980), merely as Rafi. Looking intently into the eyes of the offender, Achala ji, the former chief of Hindi BBC Radio Service, raises a finger and firmly states — her voice gone from supple to steely — “Rafi Saheb, please”. The emphasis upon the suffix leaves no doubt about her reverence for the maestro nor does it permit others to be any less respectful of him. Now, we all know Mohammed Rafi and it is only to check a few boxes of literary formality that I note that he was born in a village near Amritsar, spent a few years of his childhood in Lahore, and at the age of 14 arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai). He gave his first stage performance at age 13, recorded his first song for the Punjabi film, Gul Baloch, at age 20, and got his break in Hindi film industry at the age of 21 with a solo rendering in the 1945 movie Gaon Ki Gori. The rest, as they say, is history. The increasingly popular singer worked with all the great music directors of his time, starting from Shyam Sundar and Husn Lal-Bhagat Ram through Naushad, OP Nayyar, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, Chitragupta and C Ramchandra, to Laxmikanth-Pyarelal, Jaidev, C Arjun and Khayyam. He lent his voice as a playback singer convincingly to actors as diverse as Dilip Kumar and Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Bhagwan, and Balraj Sahni and Johnny Walker. All in all, he sang about 7,000 songs in 13 Indian and seven foreign languages. He won six Filmfare Awards, one National Award, numerous international prizes and recognitions and was honoured with Padma Shri. To be sure, such exceptional achievement deserves to be celebrated and cherished. However, far more striking than this enviable curriculum vitae is the breathtaking versatility of Mohammed Rafi’s creative praxis. He sang romantic songs, bhajans, qawwalis, comedic numbers, ghazals, semiclassical compositions, laments, “drunk hero” items, and patriotic anthems with comparable gusto and dexterity. His capacity to immerse himself in such broad range of human subjectivity was astonishing and made him stand heads and shoulders above the fellow singers not only of his era but of all times. Bracing for accusations of incompleteness, I list eight emotional experiences that Mohammed Rafi masterfully conveyed through his voice, noting that in each of them he could titrate the expression from subtle through lucid to outspoken. The resulting 24 variations of voice, uncannily, correspond to the date of his birth (December 24,1924)! Romance: From the sublime (Aap ke haseen rukh pe aaj naya noor hai, Bahaarein Phir Bhi Aayengi, 1966) through the impish (O mujhe dekh kar aap ka muskuraana, Ek Musafir, Ek Haseena, 1962) to the audacious (Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra, Kasmir ki Kali, 1964). Separation: From the pleading (O door ke musafir, hum ko bhi saath le le, Uran Khatola, 1955) through the resigned (Chal urh ja re panchhi, Bhabhi, 1957) to the tearjerker (Babul ki duaayein leti ja, Neelkamal, 1968). Heartbreak: From the anguished (Toote huye khwaabon ne hum ko yeh sikhaaya hai, Madhumati, 1958) through the regretful (Main yeh soch kar us ke dar se uthha tha, Haqeeqat, 1964) to the aching (Din dhal jaaye hai, raat na jaaye, Guide, 1965). Humour: From the ironic (Yeh hai Bombay, meri jaan, C.I.D, 1956) through the playful (Sar jo tera chakraaye, Pyaasa, 1957) to the bawdy (Suno suno Miss Chatterjee, mere dil ka matter ji, Howrah Bridge, 1958). Inebriation: From the defiant (Mujhe duniya waalon, sharaabi na samjho, Leader, 1964) through the sorrowful (Mehfil se uthh jaane waalo, tum logon par kya ilzaam, Chhandi ki Deewar, 1964) to the inconsolable (Koi saaghar dil ko behlaata nahin, Dil Diya Dard Liya, 1966). Self-awakening: From the soothing (Jaag dil-e-divaana, Oonche Log, 1965) through the insightful (Aaj puraani raahon se koi mujhe awaaz na de, Dil Diya Dard Liya, 1966) to the outrageous (Yahoo! Chaahey koi mujhe junglee kahe, Junglee, 1961). Religious: From Hindu devotion (Man tarpat hari darshan ko aaj, Baiju Bawra, 1952) through Biblio-Islamic liturgy (Parvardigaar-e-aalam, tera hi hai sahaara, Hatim Tai, 1956) to the spiritually transcendent (man re , tu kaahey na dheer dharey, Chitralekha, 1964). Patriotism: From the celebratory (Yeh desh hai veer javaanon ka, Naya Daur, 1957) through the declarative (Apni aazaadi ko hum hargiz mita saktey nahin, Leader, 1964) to the exhortative (Awaaz do hum ek hain, Indian Film Division Documentary, 1962). How to account for such majestic ability of one person to submerge his individuality into so many and so varied affective states that we — all of us — feel it? The only explanation that comes to my mind is that such individual must have been deeply compassionate, empathic, and thus most fundamentally human at his core. This authenticity-universality paradox was evident in his private calm and public celebrity status as well as in his being a deeply patriotic Indian and a genuine world citizen. This last-mentioned dimension brings to my mind a song of Mohammed Rafi that I have not mentioned. Taken from the 1961 movie Mr. India, which I saw with my then 17-year-old brother Javed (Akhtar) in Bhopal’s Laxmi Talkies, the song opens with the following lines: “Mat poochh mera hai kaun vatan aur main kahaan ka hoon/ saara jahaan hai mera, main saarey jahaan ka hoon”. With the song echoing in my mind today, I want to burst out saying: “You are! Indeed, you are, Rafi Saheb”. The deference with which I will utter the word Saheb will surely please my good friend, Achala ji. Salman Akhtar is a US-based psychoanalyst and poet in Urdu. The views expressed are personal