House Ethics Committee doesn't agree to release highly anticipated Matt Gaetz report after investigation

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan House committee did not agree to release a highly anticipated report on allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who President-elect Donald Trump has chosen as the next attorney general.

The decision has been at the center of a heated debate over Gaetz's candidacy, which faces a steep climb in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson had urged the committee not to release the report, while several Republican senators who will be voting on his confirmation have insisted they should have access to it.

The committee voted on whether to release the report, said Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., the top Democrat on the panel, but it deadlocked along party lines. She said the committee will reconvene on Dec. 5 to reconsider the matter.

The committee chairman Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., argued that the report isn't complete and said he "has some reservations" about releasing it.

The House Ethics Committee had been conducting an investigation into allegations that Gaetz took illicit drugs, engaged in sexual misconduct, misused campaign funds or accepted bribes and gifts.

The Justice Department – which Gaetz would lead if he became attorney general – was investigating similar allegations that Gaetz committed statutory rape by paying for sex with a 17 year old and for her to travel with him across state lines. That probe was dropped without the Justice Department filing charges against Gaetz.

A lawyer for two women said his clients testified to the House Ethics Committee about the allegations. One said she saw Gaetz allegedly under the influence of drugs and sexually abusing a 17 year old, though she said she did not think Gaetz knew the girl's age. Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Gaetz abruptly resigned from his position in the House last Wednesday, just days before the panel planned to release the report on its findings.

The secretive committee does not have purview over former lawmakers and typically does not release information about investigations if the subject is no longer in office, though there have been exceptions.

However, Democrats on the committee have said the report contains information that senators should know as they consider Gaetz's nomination. Republicans on the ethics panel have largely remained silent on where they stand, but Johnson said last week he would "strongly request" they keep it private.

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., introduced a resolution Wednesday that, if passed, would force the House Ethics Committee to release the report. The House has two legislative days to act on the resolution, so it will vote on it on Thursday or after the Thanksgiving holiday.

"Our hope is that the Ethics Committee does their job and releases the report before then so we don't need to deal with this when we get back," Casten said.

As all Democrats on the panel were aligned in releasing it, and only one Republican member was needed to side with them in order to tip the scales. The panel is evenly-divided between Republicans and Democrats in order to remain neutrality, compared with most committees that have at least one more member of the majority party.

Gaetz has been Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominee so far. He has a tough path to confirmation in the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans 53-47 next year. More than four Republican senators have expressed concerns about his candidacy, and far more have done so privately. If more than four of those GOP lawmakers vote against his nomination, he won't be confirmed as attorney general.

Vice President-elect JD Vance is shepherding Gaetz around the Senate this week to meet with members of the Judiciary Committee, which will be responsible for first vetting his candidacy before a vote among the entire Senate. Gaetz has also been personally calling senators as he seeks confirmation.

Some of Trump’s advisers have also suggested his nominees bypass the traditional FBI background check in favor of private investigators, which many Republican senators have opposed.But Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., requested on Wednesday the FBI provide the full file of evidence on Gaetz to the panel as it considers the nominee.In a letter to the FBI, Durbin wrote that the Senate is responsible for providing advice and consent on presidential Cabinet picks and “it is crucial that we review all the information necessary to fulfill this duty.”“The grave public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government,” he wrote. “The unanswered questions regarding Mr. Gaetz’s alleged conduct are particularly significant given that his associate, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also investigated.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Gaetz: Ethics committee doesn't release report on Trump nominee