House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release Matt Gaetz ethics report, source says
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives Ethics Committee has secretly voted to release the long-awaited ethics report former Rep. Matt Gaetzraising the possibility that charges against the Florida Republican, who was President Donald Trump’s first choice for attorney general, could be made public in the coming days.
The bipartisan committee’s decision was made earlier this month, according to a person familiar with the vote who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday. CNN first reported the vote.
It’s a stunning turnaround for the often secretive panel of five Republicans and five Democrats. Just last month, members voted along party lines not to release the findings of their nearly four-year investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct with minors and the use of illegal drugs while Gaetz was in office.
Democrats had pushed for the report to be made public, even though Gaetz was no longer in Congress and had withdrawn as Trump’s choice direct the Ministry of Justice. A vote in the House of Representatives this month to force publication of the report failed; All but one Republican voted against it.
Gaetz lashed out on social media Wednesday against the latest development, once again denying any wrongdoing. He criticized the committee for its decision after he left Congress, saying that “as a former member of the committee he would have no opportunity to debate or rebut.”
“It’s embarrassing, but not criminal, that I’ve probably partied, womanized, drank, and smoked more than I should have earlier in my life,” Gaetz wrote on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. “I live a different life now.”
Most Republicans have argued that any congressional investigation into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House of Representatives. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also asked the committee not to release its report, saying it would set a terrible precedent.
Although ethics reports have previously been released following a member’s resignation, this is extremely rare.
Gaetz has noted that the separate Justice Department investigation against him into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended last year without federal charges.
One-time political ally Joel Greenberga fellow Republican who served as a tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 saying he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was convicted at the end of 2022 to 11 years in prison.