The bipartisan House Ethics Committee was at an impasse Wednesday over whether to release a report on its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and other wrongdoing by former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The results of the vote signifies that the report on Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to be the subsequent U.S. attorney general, is not going to be made public for now.
Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters after the closed session on Capitol Hill: “There was no agreement to release the report.”
Ranking Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania said the vote by the 10-member committee, which is made up of an equal variety of Republicans and Democrats, was along party lines.
“There was no consensus on this issue,” Wild said.
She noted that the panel had agreed to satisfy again on December 5 to “further consider this matter.”
Asked whether she agreed with Guest's previous comment that the panel's report was not yet ready, Wild paused and said: “I really don't want to comment on the status of the report other than to say that today we were able to to vote.” “
The Ethics investigation The focus was on whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct or illegal drug use and whether he accepted improper gifts, gave special favors to personal contacts or attempted to obstruct government investigations into his behavior.
The committee paused its investigation in May 2023 at the request of the Justice Department, which was conducting its own investigation into allegations that Gaetz trafficked an underage girl for sex trafficking.
The DOJ ended this investigation without filing charges. The committee reauthorized its investigation in May 2023.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. In September, he said he would no longer volunteer for the ethics investigation, while revealing that the committee had asked him if he had ever “engaged in sexual intercourse with an individual under the age of 18.”
“The answer to this question is clearly NO,” he wrote in response.
The panel investigated Gaetz until he resigned from Congress last week, shortly after Trump named him the nation's top law enforcement official.
By resigning Gaetz, he is removing himself from the committee's jurisdiction, Guest said.
Trump's decision to select Gaetz, whose time in Congress was marked by controversial statements and feuds with other lawmakers, for a high-level Cabinet role sparked fierce opposition from Democrats and surprise from Republicans.
Of all the people Trump has chosen to lead his next administration, Gaetz is seen as the one with the least chance of being confirmed by the Senate. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that there are way more Senate Republicans against Gaetz's nomination than the three GOP votes he could lose in the subsequent Congress.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday called on the FBI to show over all evidence it collected as a part of its investigation into Gaetz.
“The Senate has a constitutional duty to advise and consent to presidential nominees, and it is critical that we consider all information necessary to fulfill that duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination,” the letter said of Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill. and nine other Democrats.
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