Push to Release Matt Gaetz Ethics Report Implodes in the House

The House Ethics Committee will not release a report on its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use against former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

“There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report,” Ethics Chair Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi said Wednesday, according to Axios.

The panel is made up of five Republicans and five Democrats.

Guest had said earlier that timing matters. Gaetz resigned his seat the same day Trump announced his selection to become attorney general.

According to Fox News, Guest said the usual process is to issue a report against a sitting member.

“If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position with the administration as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued. That’s not unique to this case,” he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has said no report should be released, saying it would be a “terrible breach of protocol” to file a report once a member is out of the House, according to The New York Times.

The panel began its investigation of Gaetz in 2021, when the House was under Democratic control. The Justice Department also began an investigation that it eventually dropped in February because it could not make a case that would stand up in court.

The ethics committee then resumed its investigation, which had paused during the Justice Department probe.

Senators who have a confirmation vote on Gaetz looming have said they want to see the file, with some making the point that because a version will be leaked in time, an official one should be d with the public.

Gaetz has called the ethics investigation a “political payback exercise” linked to his actions in ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Gaetz has made the point that the Biden administration Justice Department dropped the case.

“The very people who have lied to the Ethics Committee were also lying to them,” he said.

On Wednesday, Gaetz got a warning from Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas as Gaetz met with GOP senators, according to NBC.

Cornyn said, he told Gaetz “that there are not going to be any secrets here” concerning the allegations.

“Everything’s eventually going to come out. And so I frankly said, ‘Transparency is a good thing,’” Cornyn said.

Gaetz said GOP senators, who will have a majority in the next Congress, were “supportive” and promised “a fair process.”

“So it’s a great day,” he said.

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