After a much anticipated closed-door meeting on Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee will not release the findings of its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct and drug use, according to Chairman Michael Guest.
The Mississippi Republican offered few details to the swarm of reporters who had been staking out the Longworth Building, where the normally secretive committee meets.
“There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report,” Guest said.
Other members of the panel, who trickled out before Guest, were tight-lipped. The committee is composed of five Republicans and five Democrats. In order to release the report, assuming all Democrats were in favor, at least one Republican would have to join them.
“In order to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side — which happens a lot, by the way, and we often vote unanimously. That did not happen in today’s vote,” said Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., the committee’s ranking member. Wild initially declined to comment as she exited the meeting room, but she later addressed reporters outside her office after learning that Guest had discussed the outcome.
“I do not want the American public or anyone else to think Mr. Guest’s characterization of what transpired today would be some sort of indication that the committee had unanimity or consensus … not to release this report,” she said.
Wild also said the committee would reconvene Dec. 5 “to further discuss this matter.”
The decision comes after a week of mounting pressure on the committee. Last Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump named Gaetz as his choice to become attorney general, raising eyebrows and prompting questions about the fate of the ethics investigation.
Gaetz, who resigned from Congress soon after his nomination was announced, has maintained his innocence and has not been charged with any crimes.
Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate, who would be tasked with reviewing and voting on Gaetz’s nomination, have requested to see all investigatory materials. But Speaker Mike Johnson said last week that he didn’t want the report released.
House Democrats are now resorting to other procedural tactics to make the information compiled by the committee public. Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten, who was one of nearly 100 Democrats to sign a letter to the Ethics Committee on Tuesday calling for its release, announced Wednesday he would try to force a vote to require the dissemination of the report.
But his colleague, Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, beat him to the punch. At the beginning of House votes on Wednesday, Cohen rose on the floor with a resolution that would direct the Ethics Committee to preserve and publicly release records on Gaetz. A former Ethics member himself, Cohen is raising it as a privileged matter, meaning if it is determined to qualify for that distinction, the resolution must see action on the floor within two legislative days.
Casten followed minutes later with his own, very similar, privileged resolution. Asked whether he was concerned about the dueling measures, Casten deflected.
“Look, the important thing right now is … we have to figure out are we or are we not going to take ethics seriously? Are we or are we not going to take allegations of sexual misconduct [seriously]?” Casten said after walking off the floor.
Meanwhile, attorneys representing women who allegedly attended drug-fueled sex parties with Gaetz have joined the chorus calling for transparency.
“Mr. Gaetz’s likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events,” John Clune, an attorney representing a woman with whom Gaetz allegedly had sex while she was still a minor, posted to X last week. “We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student and there were witnesses.”
A second attorney, Joel Leppard, told ABC News over the weekend a client of his testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor.
On Wednesday as Ethics was meeting on the fate of its report, Gaetz was across the Capitol trying to rally the support of key senators, alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance.
The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, urged his colleagues to trust the process after his meeting with Gaetz.
“I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before,” Graham posted on X. “I would urge all of my Senate colleagues, particularly Republicans, not to join the lynch mob and give the process a chance to move forward.”
The post Ethics Committee won’t release Gaetz report, as Democrats turn to other tactics appeared first on Roll Call.
