WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on the committee’s long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, the former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the committee’s top Democrat said.
Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania said the ethics committee, evenly split between the two parties, voted in a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republicans joined Democrats who wanted to release the report.
Wild said she was compelled to speak after the panel’s Republican chairman, Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, described what happened during its session. He said no agreement had been reached on the issue.
“I didn’t intend to make any comment,” Wild said. But she said she did not want “the American public or anyone else to think that Mr. Guest’s description of what happened today would be any sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus on this issue not to publish the report.
The panel’s impasse comes as Gaetz launched an effort to personally secure his embattled nomination, meeting behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who heard questions about sexual misconduct and other allegations against him .
At least one Republican senator denounced the review as a “lynching” building against Gaetz, who if confirmed would become the nation’s top law enforcement official.
“I’m not going to legitimize the process of destroying this man because people don’t like his policies,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as he left the senators’ private meeting.
“He deserves a chance to make his case for why he should be attorney general,” Graham said. “No stamp, no lynching.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who supports Gaetz’s nomination, said, “If you have any concerns, that’s OK.” But don’t decide yet. Let the guy testify first.
As senators gathered in the Strom Thurmond Room, aside, Hawley said Gaetz was in a “joyous” mood. The former Florida congressman met with different senators for about four hours.
It was the start of a personal move by Gaetz, who has long denied the mounting allegations against him, to shore up the Senate support needed to be confirmed as the nation’s attorney general. He brings with him wide-ranging proposals aimed at ridding the Justice Department of those perceived by Trump to have “weaponized” their work against the president-elect, his allies and conservatives in general.
Trump himself told senators he hoped to “get Matt across the finish line,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.C., who was with the president-elect and others for a rocket launch SpaceX on Tuesday with billionaire Elon Musk in Texas.
Cramer said from his observation of Trump’s plans: “None of these people, including Matt Gaetz, are appointed to be a distraction to others. He wants them. He knows what he wants, he says what he wants and he will follow through. »
Gaetz is led by Vice President-elect JD Vance, a senator from Ohio. His meeting with his Senate allies was largely a strategy session in which he stressed the need for a hearing where he could lay out his and Trump’s vision for the Justice Department.
This follows a meeting Gaetz had earlier this week with the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members expressed enthusiasm for his approach to the massive changes, which have created a climate of anxiety and dismay within the department .
Vance reminded Republican senators that Trump’s presidential victory had consequences that propelled their ranks toward the majority. “He deserves a Cabinet that is faithful to the agenda he was elected to deliver,” the outgoing Ohio senator said on social media.
Gaetz, however, is also racing against time against the potential release of the House Ethics Committee report that would make the allegations against him public.
Lawyers involved in a civil case brought by a Gaetz associate were informed this week that an unauthorized person accessed a file shared among attorneys that included unredacted depositions from a woman who said Gaetz had sexual relations with her when she was 17, and a second woman who says she saw the encounter, according to attorney Joel Leppard.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Wednesday asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide the panel with “the complete evidentiary record,” including commemorative interview forms “in the closed trafficking investigation alleged sexual abuse of minors by former Congressman Matt Gaetz.”
Gaetz said the department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls concluded with no federal charges against him.
“The serious public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the federal government’s chief law enforcement officer,” wrote Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and other members of the panel.
While House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the committee should not release the report because Gaetz quickly resigned his congressional seat after Trump announced the nomination, several Republican senators have indicated that they wanted all the information before having to make a decision on how they would vote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who also met with Gaetz, said of the committee report: “We haven’t given a lot of detail on what he expects to find there, but he expressed his confidence that what is before the committee is a series of false accusations.
Trump has long had a valuable ally in Gaetz, who was a star during congressional oversight hearings as he denounced what conservatives allege was favoritism within the Justice Department, which indicted Trump for alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office and for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, lost to Democrat Joe Biden, before the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
But the choice of president-elect was among the most surprising and provocative.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a Trump ally, said she had a great meeting with Gaetz and looked forward to “a quick confirmation for our next attorney general.” She wrote on social media that Trump’s cabinet “will shake up the Washington DC swamp, and we can’t wait to move its nominees.”
Cramer has consistently said Gaetz has a “steep climb” to confirmation.
“Donald Trump is understandably, legitimately and genuinely concerned about having an attorney general willing to do what he wants him to do,” Cramer said. “Matt Gaetz is definitely the guy who won’t hold back any punches. »
Once the new Congress convenes on January 3, 2025, when Republicans take majority control, senators are expected to begin holding hearings on Trump’s nominees, with voting possible on Inauguration Day on January 20.
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.
