Washington The House Ethics Committee did not agree to publicly release a report outlining their extensive investigation of former Representative Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, during their closed-door meeting on Wednesday.
Before Gaetz, a Republican from Florida, is confirmed by the Judiciary Committee next year, a number of Senate Republicans and Democrats have stated that they would like to see the House report on the lengthy probe. The Ethics Committee had investigated claims that Gaetz used illegal drugs and committed sexual misconduct, received inappropriate gifts, provided preferential treatment to those with whom he had personal ties, and impeded the House investigation.
Gaetz refuted the accusations.
Reps. Susan Wild, D-Pa., and Michael Guest, R-Miss., chaired the bipartisan Ethics Committee, which had a secret meeting Wednesday for just over two hours. While failing to elaborate, Guest stated that there was no agreement regarding the report’s release, but the majority of members departed without speaking with reporters.
The committee did vote to release the report, but there was no consensus, meaning there was not a simple majority, Wild later told reporters. She declared that the committee would meet again on December 5 to discuss this issue in more detail.
It may now be up to the entire House to decide whether to compel the Ethics Committee to make its report public. Two Democrats, Reps. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Sean Casten of Illinois, submitted privileged resolutions on the House floor after the committee adjourned without passing a resolution. Each resolution would need to be voted on within two legislative days.
According to Cohen’s resolution, all records and research materials pertaining to any evaluation of Matthew Lewis Gaetz should be kept by the Ethics Committee. Additionally, the committee’s report on Gaetz’s alleged infractions of the house code of conduct, a law, rule, regulation, or other standard conduct would be made public under the resolution.
Instead of holding a straight vote on the release of the report, the Republican majority may choose to postpone, or kill, either Democrat’s resolution if the speaker rules that it is privileged. To compel the report’s release, a majority of the House would have to vote in favor.
In September 1996, House Democrats made a similar attempt to persuade the Ethics Committee to publish a report from an outside counsel regarding their investigation of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. However, in a floor vote, the House rejected the measure.
The House won’t be in Washington until after Thanksgiving, so the vote might take place as early as Thursday.
Speaker Johnson opposes releasing report
Close Trump friend House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has opposed the report’s release, claiming the Ethics Committee only has authority over current members. After Trump appointed Gaetz to head the Justice Department, he resigned last week.
Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that it is crucial for our organization that we refrain from using the House Ethics Committee to look into and report on individuals who are not members of this body. Matt Gaetz is no longer a part of the body.
Guest informed reporters that the Gaetz report was incomplete before Wednesday’s meeting, but he did not specify how much work remained.
“That is something that we will be talking about today, and that’s another reason I have some reservations about releasing any unfinished work product,” the guest said in response to the question of how the committee could issue an incomplete report.
According to him, the report has not undergone review.
Over the last three years, Gaetz has been the subject of intermittent investigations by the Ethics Committee. Joel Leppard, the women’s lawyer, told NBC News this week that the organization has spoken with two women who said that Gaetz paid them for having sex at a small party in Florida, where prostitution is prohibited. Leppard said that one of the women testified that she saw Gaetz have sex with a friend who was 17 years old at the time, but she doesn’t think Gaetz was aware of the friend’s age at the time.
His clients want the House report released to the public, Leppard continued. According to him, they want the American people to understand that they are saying the truth.
The Trump transition team has referred to the accusations as unfounded, citing the Justice Department’s decision to terminate its lengthy investigation without filing criminal charges against Gaetz.
Gaetz meets with senators and the VP-elect
Trump’s administration is moving quickly to nominate Gaetz despite the House controversy. Despite the reluctance of Republican senators who will supervise his confirmation if he is formally nominated, Trump declared on Tuesday that he is not rethinking his decision to appoint Gaetz as his attorney general. According to a transition official, Trump has been “heavily working the phones” to increase support for Gaetz.
Additionally, on Wednesday, vice president-elect JD Vance escorted Gaetz to meetings with Republican senators in the Capitol, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, as well as other committee members like Mike Lee, R-Utah; Josh Hawley, R-Mo.; Tom Cotton, R-Ark.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and John Cornyn, R-Texas.
He informed Gaetz “that there are not going to be any secrets here” regarding the accusations made against him, according to Cornyn.
“Everything will be revealed in due time. ‘Transparency is a good thing,’ I replied bluntly,” Cornyn told reporters.
According to the senator’s spokeswoman, Gaetz also had a meeting with John Thune, R-S.D., who is expected to be the Senate Majority Leader.
As his discussions on the Hill continue, Gaetz seems to have received at least one yes vote: Shortly after her meeting with Gaetz, Blackburn tweeted on X that she had a nice time and that she was looking forward to a prompt confirmation for our next Attorney General.
After meeting with Trump on Tuesday, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who is not on the Judiciary Committee, told NBC News that while Trump wants Gaetz confirmed, “I didn’t feel like there was a full-court press of any type.”
But Trump is serious about Gaetz, he continued.
“This isn t a diversion of some sort or distraction from other controversial picks,” he stated.
Since the Senate Judiciary Committee will eventually have the evidence it requires on Gaetz, Cramer stated that he is “not worried” about seeing the House Ethics Committee report. However, he added, “The easy thing to do and the appropriate thing to do would be for them to release it.”
The fact that Matt Gaetz is a maverick, forceful, and occasionally even reckless should not come as a surprise to anyone, but that is what Donald Trump desired and campaigned on. He’s keeping his word,” Cramer remarked.
Gaetz told reporters when he returned to the House on Wednesday night after spending the entire day in the Senate that senators had been “supportive” and had promised him “a fair process.”
He remarked, “So it’s a great day,”
Gaetz went on to say he had not been paying attention to the Ethics Committee’s discussions. “What we need to do to overhaul the Department of Justice has been my main concern. Senators and I have been meeting. He remarked, “I haven’t been giving that much thought.
This week, Wild, the leading Democrat on the Ethics Committee, stated that the House report should be given to the Senate at the very least and made publicly available. She maintained that the panel had a history of publishing reports following the resignation of members of Congress.
Rep. Bill Boner, a Democrat from Tennessee, resigned on October 5, 1987, to take a position as mayor of Nashville. The following December, the Ethics Committee issued a preliminary staff report that looked into claims that Boner took bribes, misappropriated campaign funds, and concealed gifts. The whole committee received no suggestions from the report.
According to the Ethics Committee at the time, the duty of the Committee to fully inform the public about the status and outcomes of its efforts up until the date of Representative Boner’s departure from Congress outweighs the general policy against issuing reports in cases like the one in question.
Three years later, the committee issued a brief staff report right after Rep. Buz Lukens, R-Ohio, resigned due to accusations of inappropriate and unwelcome sexual advances made by a congressional employee.
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