The House Ethics Committee in the US has accused Florida Republican Matt Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and purchasing and using illicit drugs all while he was a member of Congress.

Republicans on the US House Ethics Committee voted on Wednesday against releasing a report on their long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, the top Democrat on the panel said.

US President-elect Donald Trump told Mr Johnson that he would be tapping Mr Gaetz for his administration as attorney general, reducing Mr Johnson’s slim majority even further

A politician who emerged as a central figure in the US Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into representative Matt Gaetz has pleaded guilty to six federal charges and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors as part of a plea deal.