House reverses course and plans to launch Matt Gaetz ethics report

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House lawmakers are expected to publicly release the results of an ethics investigation into now-former congressman Matt Gaetz after a secret vote to share the report in the final days of 2024.

House Ethics Committee members reportedly held a secret vote earlier this month, reversing course on a decision to withhold the findings of a long-running probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

The report is expected to be made public after the final day of voting in the House of Representatives this week as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington, D.C., for the holidays, according to CNN.

Release of the report marks a stunning reversal of a party-line vote in November against its release. Gaetz withdrew his name for consideration as Donald Trump’s nominee for US attorney general and abruptly resigned from Congress following reportsthat a woman testified to the committee that she had sexual encounters with Gaetz at a party in 2017 when she was 17 years old.

The Ethics Committee’s report follows a lengthy probe into allegations against the Republican, 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 the committee’s announcement last year.

Gaetz was also the subject of a Department of Justice investigation for several years, though prosecutors ultimately never brought charges against the Florida congressman.

He has strenuously denied wrongdoing.

Gaetz’s abrupt resignation from Congress effectively ended the House investigation, though committee members weighed whether to force the House to release a report. In its most recent communication about the Gaetz report on December 5, the committee said it is “continuing to discuss the matter” and that there will be “no further statements” in accordance with House rules.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters last month that he “strongly” requested that the panel not make a report public, arguing that the committee no longer has jurisdiction over the now-former congressman.

But there is precedent for releasing such a report after a lawmaker leaves office. In 1987, former congressman Bill Boner was the subject of an ethics report two months after leaving office. The committee released its report into former congressman Buz Lukens the same day he left office in 1990.

Still, Johnson argued that releasing the report would open “Pandora’s box.”

“If it’s been broken once or twice, it should not have been,” he said.

Attorneys for witnesses who spoke to the panel have also urged lawmakers to release its findings.

Gaetz’s former ally Joel Greenberg reached a deal with prosecutors in May 2021 to plead guilty to six federal crimes, including underage sex trafficking, after he was initially charged with 33 counts. He is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.

Greenberg also admitted introducing a minor to “other adult men” who “engaged in commercial sex acts” with her, according to court documents.

Following his resignation, Gaetz announced he would be joining right-wing media outlet One America News Network, where he will anchor a “one-hour political talk show every weeknight” on the network’s prime-time lineup starting in January.

This is a developing story

Source: independent.co.uk