US President-elect Trump wanted Matt Gaetz as Attorney General – but after he was accused of sex with minors and drug use, he withdrew. An ethics report on Gaetz is unlikely to be published.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday against releasing the ethics report on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz. The Republicans hold a majority in the House of Representatives.
US President-elect Donald Trump nominated Gaetz to be Minister of Justice for his future cabinet. But after allegations of sexual misconduct – specifically, he was accused of having sex with minors – he ultimately resigned from the position. He had already given up his mandate in the House of Representatives after his nomination.
“No more urgency”
Republicans in the House of Representatives now argued that there was no longer any urgency to release the report because Gaetz had left Congress and it was no longer intended for the future Trump administration. Rep. Tom McClintock of California was the only Republican to support Democrats' efforts to disclose the report.
Gaetz is accused of, among other things, sex with a minor and drug use. He rejected the allegations.
The House Ethics Committee had prepared a report on the allegations – but it was not initially published because Gaetz gave up his seat in the chamber, which is usually accompanied by a discontinuation of the proceedings. The Democrats had pushed for the results to be published anyway.
“Sweep under the carpet”
US House of Representatives Chairman Mike Johnson called on the Ethics Committee not to release the report. This would set a terrible precedent, he said. While it has happened that ethics reports have been published following a member's resignation, this is extremely rare.
Shortly before the vote, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, who introduced one of the bills to force the release, said that by opposing the release, Republicans would be “successfully sweeping credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.”
The ethics committee previously met to discuss the Gaetz report but made no decision, saying in a brief statement that the matter was still being discussed.
