Today in one sentence: The House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz found “substantial evidence” that the former congressman regularly paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and used illegal drugs; a Senate investigation found that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted over $4.75 million in undisclosed luxury trips and gifts since 1991; Trump renewed his call for the U.S. to buy Greenland, and then suggested that the Panama Canal be returned to U.S. control; a former D.C. police officer was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio; Bill Clinton was hospitalized after developing a fever; the Senate confirmed Biden’s 235th judicial appointee; Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life without parole; Biden withdrew proposed rules to improve access to contraception; Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill to create 66 new federal judge positions to, in part, prevent Trump from further influencing the judiciary; and Biden signed a government funding bill on Saturday, to avert a shutdown after Congress passed the spending plan.

1/ The House Ethics Committee report on Matt Gaetz found “substantial evidence” that the former congressman regularly paid women for sex, including with a 17-year-old girl, and used illegal drugs. From at least 2017 to 2020, Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, used or possessed illegal drugs, including cocaine and Ecstasy “on multiple occasions,” and accepted lavish gifts, including transportation to and lodging in the Bahamas, in excess of permissible amounts. The Committee concluded that “Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress.” The ethic panel added that Gaetz “knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct” the investigation. The Ethics Committee, however, did not find “sufficient evidence” that Gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws, which the Justice Department also investigate but did not bring charges. Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump tapped him to lead the Justice Department. (Politico / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / CBS News / CNN)

2/ A Senate investigation found that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted over $4.75 million in undisclosed luxury trips and gifts since 1991. “The Supreme Court has mired itself in an ethical crisis of its own making by failing to address justices’ ethical misconduct for decades,” the 95-page report said. The report also revealed two additional trips that Thomas failed to disclose, which were funded by billionaire Harlan Crow. “The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” the report said, noting that some of Thomas’s benefactors have had business before the court. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / The Guardian)

3/ Trump renewed his call for the U.S. to buy Greenland, and then suggested that the Panama Canal be returned to U.S. control. “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said. Greenland Prime Minister Múte Egede, however, said the self-ruling territory of Denmark is “not for sale and will never be for sale.” In 2019, Trump mused about buying Greenland, and after his offer was rejected, his visit to Denmark was canceled. Separately, Trump suggested that the U.S. is getting “ripped off” at the Panama Canal and demanded that the Panamanian authorities either lower fees for U.S. ships or return its control to the U.S. “in full, quickly and without question.” While the U.S. built the canal in the early 1900s, it was turned over on Dec. 31, 1999, as part of a treaty signed in 1977 by Jimmy Carter. Previously, Trump suggested that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state and referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor” of the “Great State of Canada.” (Associated Press / New York Times / Reuters / Axios / CBS News / Bloomberg)

4/ A former D.C. police officer was convicted of obstruction of justice and lying to authorities about leaking confidential information to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, including details of a warrant for his arrest. Tarrio is serving 22 years after being convicted of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)

5/ Bill Clinton was hospitalized after developing a fever. The situation is reportedly “not urgent.” (NBC News / CNN / Associated Press / New York Times)

6/ The Senate confirmed Biden’s 235th judicial appointee, which includes one Supreme Court justice, 45 appellate judges, and 187 district judges. This surpasses Trump’s total of 234, but does not match his three Supreme Court appointments. (NBC News)

7/ Biden commuted the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates to life without parole, leaving three to face execution. Biden justified the decision as morally and legally necessary to halt federal executions before Trump, a supporter of capital punishment, resumes them. (Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times)

8/ Biden withdrew proposed rules to improve access to contraception, leaving in place Trump-era policies that allow employers to deny coverage based on moral or religious objections intact. (The Hill / Politico)

9/ Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill to create 66 new federal judge positions to, in part, prevent Trump from further influencing the judiciary. (Politico)

Previously:

Biden signed a government funding bill on Saturday, to avert a shutdown after Congress passed the spending plan. The legislation extends current fiscal levels until mid-March, includes $100 billion in disaster aid, and $10 billion in direct aid for farmers. The bill, however, does not include Trump’s demand to suspend the debt limit. (NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)

Six years ago today: Day 704: All alone.