Ethics Committee Declines, at Least for Now, To Release Report Into Gaetz’s Alleged Sexual Misconduct, Drug Abuse

The House Ethics Committee has declined for now to release their report into Congressman Matt Gaetz’s alleged sexual relationship with a minor and his use of illegal drugs, the panel’s chairman told reporters on Wednesday. Several Republican senators and House members have said the American people deserve to see the report before Mr. Gaetz receives a vote on his nomination for attorney general. “There was not an agreement in the committee,” the chairman of the ethics panel, Congressman Michael Guest, told reporters after a closed-door meeting that lasted for more than two hours on Wednesday. The top Democrat on the committee, Congresswoman Susan Wild, quickly refuted those comments in a statement to the press, saying that there was a non-unanimous vote to keep the report from the public and from fellow lawmakers. “He has implied that there was an agreement of the committee not to disclose the report,” Ms. Wild said. “A vote was taken. … I do not want the American public or anyone else to think that Mr. Guest’s characterization of what transpired today would be some sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus on this issue — not to release the report.”“There was no consensus on this issue. We did agree to reconvene as a committee on December 5 to further consider this matter,” Ms. Wild added. She declined to say how individual members voted on the issue of releasing the Gaetz report. Mr. Gaetz has been accused of having sexual relations with a 17-year-old several years ago while using illegal drugs. A close associate, Joel Greenberg, is now serving a prison sentence for sex trafficking a minor — a crime of which Mr. Gaetz has also been accused by an anonymous woman. His nomination to be President Trump’s attorney general immediately spurred calls by Republicans to have the committee’s report into his alleged conduct released for at least senators to see before he received a vote. A leading GOP lawmaker who sits on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Cornyn, called on the ethics panel to release the report, though he also speculated that it would get out to the public “one way or another,” implying that it could be leaked to the press. Senator Rounds said the Senate may “recreate” its own ethics report into Mr. Gaetz via the typical vetting process, or possibly by getting information from the Justice Department’s own investigation into the congressman’s conduct that was shuttered in 2022. “If it’s not available and we have to recreate it ourselves, that would delay our ability to make a decision on a very critical nominee,” Mr. Rounds told CNN on Sunday night. On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democrats wrote to the FBI to demand that all files related to their investigation of Mr. Gaetz be turned over as part of the vetting process. Speaker Johnson has come out against releasing the Gaetz report because the now-former congressman has left the House, and it is typical practice that the Ethics Committee not release information related to those who are themselves not members of the House. Some, however, have pointed out that an Ethics Committee report on Congressman William Boner’s alleged corruption in the 1980s was released after he had left the House. Another route Democrats could go to have the report released is via a privileged resolution that is brought to the House floor. According to Punchbowl News, Congressman Sean Casten — who is a Democrat from Illinois — plans to introduce a resolution forcing the Ethics Committee to make the report public, which would have to receive a vote on the floor within two business days.

Ethics Committee Declines, at Least for Now, To Release Report Into Gaetz’s Alleged Sexual Misconduct, Drug Abuse

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