Lawmakers demand ethics report on Matt Gaetz, Trump’s attorney general pick

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers in both parties on Thursday called on a congressional panel to release the results of an investigation into alleged misconduct by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., demanding to see its report about sexual misconduct and other charges against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the attorney general.

Gaetz abruptly resigned Wednesday after Trump announced he was the pick to lead the Justice Department, shocking many members of Congress who see him as unqualified and unfit for the post. His rapid exit effectively ended the ethics panel’s investigation into him two days before members had planned to vote on whether to release their long-awaited findings.

Since the spring of 2021, the House Ethics Committee has been investigating claims that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use and accepted impermissible gifts under House rules, among other charges.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Judiciary Committee, which would have jurisdiction over confirming an attorney general, on Thursday called on the House panel to preserve and share its conclusions.

“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” Durbin said in a statement. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., the chair of the Ethics Committee, suggested in comments to reporters that he was not inclined to release the investigative findings now that Gaetz has resigned.

“Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued,” Guest said.

That raised the possibility of a constitutional clash between the Senate, which is charged with vetting and confirming presidential nominees, and the House at the start of Trump’s second term. Trump has already threatened to circumvent the Senate and unilaterally appoint people to his administration during a recess, short-circuiting the normal process.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters that he “wants to see everything” when considering nominees, including the Ethics Committee report. He suggested the Senate Judiciary Committee could subpoena the report on Gaetz if the House committee refuses to hand it over, and he would be open to such action.

“I don’t think any of us want to fly blind,” Cornyn said. “Part of this is to protect the president against information or surprises coming out later that he and his team weren’t aware of.”

There is some precedent for the ethics panel making public its findings about a former member of Congress. In 1987, the House Ethics Committee released its report into former Rep. William Boner, D-Tenn., after he resigned amid an investigation.

The secretive congressional investigation into Gaetz was paused while the Justice Department carried out a related investigation of Gaetz’s conduct, including allegations involving sex trafficking and sex with a minor. In February, the Justice Department decided not to bring charges against Gaetz after concluding it could not make a strong enough case in court. Once the Justice Department inquiry ended, the Ethics Committee resumed its work.

John Clune, a lawyer who represents a woman at the center of the investigation, also called Thursday for the report’s release.

“Mr. Gaetz’s likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events,” he wrote on social media. “We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student, and there were witnesses.”

The panel interviewed more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. The committee said in June that it was continuing to investigate the allegations that Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.

It said it was closing its inquiry into allegations that Gaetz shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and accepted a bribe or improper gratuity.

Gaetz has denounced the inquiry as a “political payback exercise,” and suggested it was orchestrated by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, his bitter rival whose ouster he orchestrated last year.

In a public letter from September, Gaetz also called the Ethics Committee’s work “uncomfortably nosy,” and complained that it involved questions about the details of his sexual activity.

“The lawful, consensual, sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress,” he wrote.

He noted he was already investigated by the Justice Department, which opted not to pursue the case.

“The very people who have lied to the Ethics Committee were also lying to them,” he said.