The House Ethics Committee did not come to an agreement Wednesday on whether to release the hotly debated report on its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.—as lawmakers are split on whether the report should play a role in the Senate’s consideration of Gaetz as attorney general.
Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) (L), President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Attorney ... [+]
Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters the panel did not come to a conclusion about the report’s release during a meeting, but did not say if the committee—made up of five members of each party—voted on whether to unveil the report.
The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wild, D-Penn., later said there was “no consensus” on whether to release the report, suggesting the vote deadlocked along party lines and criticizing Guest, saying he had falsely implied the committee agreed not to release the report.
Guest told reporters earlier Wednesday he has “reservations” about unveiling the report because it has yet to be completed, adding the committee would consider both whether to release the report publicly or make it accessible to senators weighing Gaetz’s confirmation.
The meeting comes after Gaetz returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday alongside Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, to lobby senators to confirm him as attorney general amid a widening scandal involving allegations of sexual misconduct, including claims he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid women for sex (which Gaetz strongly denies).
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Mike Lee, R-Utah, Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., John Kennedy, R-La., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, met with Vance and Gaetz Wednesday, according to ABC News, which reported Graham told reporters after the meeting Gaetz “will be held to account in the confirmation process” but “deserves a chance to make his argument,” adding that he won’t “be part of a process that leaks information that shouldn’t be leaked.”
Multiple Republican senators have indicated the ethics report should be taken into consideration in weighing Gaetz’s confirmation, including Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the Associated Press reported, though they have not said whether they want the report to be released publicly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is against the report’s release and has said he believes it would set bad precedent as the House does not have jurisdiction over former members of Congress.
The ethics committee will convene again Dec. 5, Wild said.
Gaetz resigned from Congress days after Trump nominated him to serve as attorney general last week and days before the committee was reportedly expected to vote on releasing the report into its investigation into whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, among other allegations. The Justice Department also probed whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with an underage girl as part of a federal sex trafficking investigation, but did not bring charges. New details surrounding the allegations have emerged since Trump tapped Gaetz for the role. Joel Leppard, an attorney who represents two witnesses who testified to the committee in its Gaetz probe, has said publicly that Gaetz paid his clients for sex and that one of them told the ethics committee she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor. Gaetz has denied the allegations.
Trump is standing by Gaetz, telling reporters “no” on Tuesday when asked if he is reconsidering the nomination in light of the new allegations. Trump has said privately he believes Gaetz has less than a 50% chance of being confirmed by the Senate, The New York Times reported.
Musk Defends Gaetz For Attorney General Amid New Sexual Misconduct Allegations (Forbes)