Democrats, GOP clash over release of Matt Gaetz ethics investigation

WASHINGTON — A partisan standoff appears to be brewing over whether a House Ethics Committee report will be released before the Senate considers President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Matt Gaetz for U.S. attorney general.

Gaetz, who resigned Wednesday shortly after his nomination, has been the subject of a three-year investigation by the panel over allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting “improper gifts” and giving out special favors to individuals with whom he had relationships.

The House Ethics Committee, which expanded its probe in June to include additional allegations, was to decide on Friday whether to release its report, but his resignation effectively ended the investigation.

On Thursday morning, the panel's chairman, Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters as he left the floor that he did not plan to make the document public.

“What happens in Ethics is confidential. We're going to maintain that confidentiality,” he said, according to a report in Politico. “I’ve given my statement yesterday and there’s nothing new that has changed from then until now.”

Guest declined further comment when asked if he was even allowed to release the report if Gaetz was no longer a lawmaker.

Calls for the Gaetz report to be shared with other lawmakers escalated on Thursday when Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who also serves as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a statement called on the House panel to "preserve and share" its work.

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"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. "We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people."

Durbin added: "Make no mistake: this information could be relevant to the question of Mr. Gaetz’s confirmation as the next Attorney General of the United States and our constitutional responsibility of advice and consent.”

Gaetz was previously under investigation by the Justice Department for allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him. The DOJ ended the investigation in February 2023 and did not bring charges against Gaetz.

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Trump's Gaetz nomination as AG sent shockwaves through Washington, stunning Democrats and Republicans alike. Gaetz, an attorney and hardline MAGA loyalist, has no experience as a prosecutor. The firebrand Republican has been a vocal critic of the Justice Department from his seat on the House Judiciary Committee, accusing Attorney General Merrick Garland of "weaponizing" the department by prosecuting Trump.

In nominating Gaetz to head up the Justice Department, Trump ? who in 2023 was indicted in four separate criminal cases ? said "few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System." Trump pleaded not guilty in all four cases and was convicted in one of them after a trial. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump vowed retribution against his political enemies.

Senate Republicans say the facts on Gaetz investigation will come out

The Senate Judiciary Committee has the power to subpoena the Gaetz report. While House Republicans, led by Guest, moved to keep the report confidential, Senate Republicans vowed the details will come out eventually.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who serves on the committee that will have oversight over Gaetz's nomination, told reporters Thursday: "I don't see any relevant information that should be withheld."

"We also have the resources of the FBI to do a background investigation. So one way or another, around here, the facts ultimately come out," he said. "I think it's in the president's best interest that he not be surprised and we should be fully informed of what the facts are."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, agreed. "I am confident that whatever the information and findings are of the House Ethics Committee will eventually be brought out either through the FBI background investigation or the committee's scrutiny of the nominee or through questioning at the hearings."

It's unclear whether Gaetz has the votes for Senate confirmation as attorney general even in a new Republican-controlled Senate. However, Republican senators might be reluctant to push back at Trump's pick following his decisive election victory.

Durbin next year will lose his power, along with all Democrats, and it'll be the GOP-led Senate that handles Gaetz's confirmation hearing with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, expected to lead the chamber's Judiciary Committee.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday he asked Gaetz for his reasoning for stepping down from his post, and he cited state law that outlines "an eight-week period to select and fill a vacant seat."

"If you start the clock now, if you do the math, we may be able to fill that seat as early as Jan. 3 when we take the new oath of office for the new Congress," Johnson said.

Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., a member of the House Judicial Committee, on Thursday demanded the Ethics Committee "come forward and transparently show us what they found, and then let the chips fall where they may."

"A takeaway from these appointments is that President-elect Trump is rewarding loyalty," Dean said in an interview on CNN. "It is open corruption. We saw in the first administration of Mr. Trump. He tried to surround himself, and he did surround himself with very credible Republicans to work with him, most of whom got fired, dismissed or quit. This time around, he's just going with loyalists."

Contributing: Bart Jansen and David Jackson. Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats, GOP clash over release of Matt Gaetz ethics investigation