Scores of House Democrats urged the House Ethics Committee to immediately release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz ahead of Wednesday’s panel meeting.
A pressure campaign to release the report, centered on the panel’s probe regarding accusations against Mr. Gaetz of sexual relations with a minor, illicit drug use and obstructing a federal investigation, has mounted since President-elect Donald Trump last week tapped him to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
In a letter to House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, Mississippi Republican, and the panel’s top Democrat, Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, 100 House Democrats argued that the gravity of the allegations against Mr. Gaetz outweighed the panel’s precedent of halting investigations and not releasing findings on members after they leave Congress.
Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from Congress last week effectively ended the panel’s investigation and likely release of the report, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called on the committee to release it to the Senate ahead of the upper chamber’s confirmation hearings.
“Given the seriousness of the charges against Representative Gaetz, withholding the findings of your investigation may jeopardize the Senate’s ability to provide fully informed, constitutionally required advice and consent regarding this nomination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Representative Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from Congress should not circumvent the Senate’s ability to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.”
The House has a history of continuing an investigation and releasing findings after a lawmaker leaves Washington, as with former Rep. Eric Massa and ex-Sen. John Ensign.
The House Ethics Committee first began its investigation into Mr. Gaetz in 2021, but deferred to the Justice Department until last year, when the DOJ opted to not charge him on sex trafficking and obstruction.
Mr. Guest has stood by the panel’s precedent of not releasing reports or continuing investigations into members after they resign, while Ms. Wild has argued that the report should be made public.
Republican senators have said they want to see the report to make an informed decision on Mr. Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.
In their letter, the Democratic lawmakers said presidents’ Cabinet picks reflect “their pledge to appoint leaders of government agencies that reflect the country they aim to serve.”
“In no light terms, they are among the most important positions in the country,” they wrote. “The United States Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is critical that senators have all the information necessary to consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination.”
While lawmakers applied pressure on the panel to release the report, a hacker gained access to documents shared between attorneys whose clients gave testimony against Mr. Gaetz in a civil lawsuit, The New York Times reported.
The file, accessed by a hacker under the name Altam Beezley, reportedly included 24 exhibits, including testimony from a woman who said she had sex with Mr. Gaetz when she was 17 years old and corroborating testimony by a woman who said she witnessed the encounter.
The civil lawsuit in question was filed by Christopher Dorworth, a Florida businessman and Gaetz friend, who has accused the woman and another Gaetz associate, Joel Greenberg, of defaming him for telling authorities that he hosted parties where Mr. Gaetz and others were accused of taking drugs and openly having sex.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.