Ethics Committee Keeps Report Secret On Matt Gaetz Probe

The chairman of the House Ethics Committee said the panel, under pressure to release details of its investigation of attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz for sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, was unable to come to an agreement to disclose what it had found.

“There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report,” Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), chairman of the panel, told reporters Wednesday as he left a committee meeting that lasted for several hours.

But the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild, took issue with Guest’s characterization.

Wild said it was not true that the committee had agreed not to release the report — a slightly different proposition than what Guest had stated. Instead, she said there was a vote on the issue, and the panel split evenly along party lines. Because the panel is a rare one in Congress that is split evenly along party lines, a vote along partisan lines did not carry the needed majority of the committee members’ votes.

“I do not want the American public or anyone else to think that Mr. Guests’ characterization of what transpired today would be some sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus on this issue,” Wild told reporters.

The development leaves in limbo the fate of the probe’s potential findings as the Senate faces the prospect of having to vote to install as the nation’s top cop a man once accused of sex trafficking. Gaetz, a former Florida congressman, has denied the charges, and a federal criminal investigation into his activities was closed with no charges being filed.

Gaetz resigned from the House soon after being named, a move that reportedly came days before the committee was set to release its report on him. Because the House Ethics Committee only has jurisdiction over House members, the resignation ordinarily would have ended the probe without any further action.

But with Gaetz being nominated to head the Department of Justice, some argue that the usual past practice of closing the investigation without a public report should be ignored.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Gaetz is one of several selections that have caused some unease among Republicans. In addition to Gaetz, Trump chose Fox News weekend television host Pete Hegseth to be his secretary of defense and former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to be his national security adviser.

But Gaetz’s nomination appears to be the most troubled of the picks so far. In a June statement, the committee said “certain of the allegations” merited further review, and Gaetz was being looked at due to allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts and seeking to obstruct the government’s investigations of him.

So far, Trump has stood by Gaetz, even as many Republicans were shocked by the choice. On Wednesday, Gaetz returned to Capitol Hill to meet with some of the senators who would be deciding his nomination’s fate.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would be the first to consider Gaetz, asked the Justice Department Wednesday to hand over its documents relating to the investigation that led to no charges being filed. Democrats have a majority on the committee until early January.

“The grave public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government. The unanswered questions regarding Mr. Gaetz’s alleged conduct are particularly significant given that his associate, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also investigated,” the Democratic senators, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), wrote.

In the House, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said he will introduce a privileged resolution to require the House Ethics Committee to release its findings. Privileged resolutions are often used to try to get a quick House floor vote on an issue often dealing with the standards of the House, such as censures or expulsions.

But given the congressional calendar, a vote on such a resolution could be delayed into December, when public pressure may be less.

While those who worked side by side with Gaetz expressed the most wonderment he had been named to head the nation’s federal law enforcement establishment, a new Economist/YouGov poll out Wednesday found public opinion evenly split.

The poll said 37% of respondents approved of Gaetz’s nomination, while 39% disapproved and 24% weren’t sure.