Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday he would “strongly ask” the House Ethics Committee to withhold a potentially damaging report on its investigation into whether former Rep. Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and bribery.
Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate the Florida Republican for attorney general. The time came just days before a House panel was ready to vote on the publication of a report on the allegations against Gaetz. The House Ethics Committee planned to take its vote Friday but canceled it Thursday evening.
Gaetz was also the subject of a previous Justice Department investigation into whether he violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws. No charges have been filedand Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.
“The rules of the House have always been that a former member is not under the jurisdiction of the ethics committee,” Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, told reporters.
Johnson said publishing the report would set a “terrible precedent” and “open Pandora’s box”.
“I believe it is very important to maintain the House tradition of not releasing ethics reports on people who are no longer members of Congress,” he said. “The jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee extends to sitting members of Congress. This is an important rule.”
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on the House committee to share the report and “all relevant documentation” on Gaetz with his committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee is responsible for conducting confirmation hearings for the attorney general nominee.
“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the content of the House Ethics Committee’s report,” Durbin said in a statement Thursday. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be withheld from the American people. Make no mistake: This information could be relevant to the question of Mr. Gaetz’s confirmation as the next Attorney General of the United States. United States and for our constitutional responsibility to advise and consent.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also said he wants to see the report. Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota is not on the Judiciary Committee, but said in a CNN interview: “We should be able to get our hands on [the report]and we should have access to it one way or another, depending on how we make all these appointments.
contributed to this report.
