The House Ethics Committee will meet on Wednesday to debate its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the subsequent attorney general, NBC News reported Monday.
Several key Republican senators want the report on Gaetz to be submitted to the Senate for consideration of whether he ought to be confirmed to the AG post if and when Trump formally nominates him.
The ethics committee had investigated Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and possible illegal drug use and other actions. The panel was scheduled to fulfill last Friday to debate the report, but that meeting was postponed.
Gaetz, who represented a congressional district in Florida, abruptly resigned from the House of Representatives last week after Trump announced he would nominate him for AG. His resignation ended the Ethics Board's jurisdiction over him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. He said he would “strongly request” that the committee not release its report on Gaetz, arguing that doing so can be “a terrible violation of protocol, tradition and the spirit of the rule.”
If confirmed as attorney general, Gaetz would lead the Justice Department, which had previously investigated him for possible sex trafficking of an underage girl. The Justice Department has not filed criminal charges against Gaetz within the case and he has denied any wrongdoing.
On Thursday, a lawyer representing a girl who says she had sex with Gaetz as a minor called for the ethics report back to be made public.
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