Matt Gaetz, President-elect Trump’s first choice for Attorney General, just got some surprising news: the House Ethics Committee has voted to release their investigation into the former Congress person’s alleged behavior. More details from CNN:
The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
The report is now expected to be made public after the House’s final day of votes this year as lawmakers leave Washington for the holidays, those sources said.
The vote, which has not previously been reported, amounts to a stark reversal for the panel after it had voted along party lines in late November not to release the results of the investigation. The decision to release the report suggests that some Republicans ultimately decided to side with Democrats on the matter, and it is unclear if the committee will once again change course now that it has voted.
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It is exceedingly rare for an ethics report to be released after a member has left Congress, though it has happened on a couple of occasions in the past. The committee revisited the issue behind closed doors earlier this month after a feud over the report spilled into public view before Thanksgiving.
The Ethics Committee’s report concludes a years-long probe into numerous allegations against Gaetz, including whether he engaged in sexual misconduct, used illicit drugs, “shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gifts,” according to an announcement by the panel last summer.
This report was the tool that Republican senators used to torpedo Gaetz’s nomination for Attorney General. What’s telling is that Republicans remain in control of the House Ethics committee and had previously taken steps to block the release while he was being considered for the AG role.
The fact that at least some of those same Republicans decided to reverse course (albeit in an secret vote) speaks to how little love is lost between Gaetz and his former colleagues within the Republican party. Whether or not this is revenge for Gaetz’s role in ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy or just general dislike of the grandstanding former Congressman will be a source of great speculation.
I suspect the answer is “Why not both?!”
However, one note of caution for those of us getting ready to pop our popcorn in anticipation of reading the resport, it’s still possible Speaker Mike Johnson will find some way to either significantly redact the report or block it’s release all together.
And there are good reasons for trying to block this release from a partisan perspective. If the bipartisan committee report is anywhere near as damning as the leaks suggest, will reflect poorly on Gaetz and President Trump’s decision to choose someone with that many ethical issues* to head the Department of Justice.
* – Yes, I am opting to not make the obvious joke that all that experience criming and hiding the evidence would have given Gaetz a real insider’s view on the workings of the criminal legal system. I would never sink that low.
