Calls are growing for the House Ethics Committee to share its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz after President-elect Donald Trump announced he picked him to lead the Justice Department as attorney general — a move that triggered Gaetz’s resignation from the House, meaning the committee no longer has the jurisdiction to continue its investigation into him.
Gaetz’s move, though, did not end the pressure from both key Senate Democrats and Republicans to get access to the report.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, who currently chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would hold confirmation hearings on Gaetz if they happen, asked on Thursday that the committee “preserve and share their report and all relevant documentation on Mr. Gaetz with the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Gaetz’ surprising resignation from the House raises “serious questions” about the contents of the report, Durbin said in a statement. The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
“We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people,” Durbin said in the statement. “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.”
Republican Sen. John Cornyn, a key Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott that it’s important that there is access to what the House Ethics Committee has found in its investigation.
“I think there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including, whatever the House Ethics Committee is generated,” Cornyn said.
Sen. John Cornyn is flanked by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin and Sen. Richard Blumenthal as the panel convenes to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees in the closing weeks of the 118th Congress in Washington, Nov. 14, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
“So, you want to see it?” Scott asked.
“Absolutely,” Cornyn responded.
When asked if the House Ethics Committee should release its report on Gaetz before his confirmation process begins, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he would leave that decision to the House committee.
Tillis wouldn’t say if he has concerns about Gaetz in the position, saying he barely knows him.
“All I know is he likes picking fights on social media. He’ll have to deal with that in committees. But I don’t know his background. I’m going to look at it, and give him a fair hearing,” Tillis said.
Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Henderson, Nevada, Oct. 31, 2024.
Mike Blake/Reuters
The House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its investigation into Gaetz when Trump named the firebrand Florida congressman — who resigned from the lower chamber on Thursday — for the attorney general role, sources told ABC News.
The committee was preparing to meet this week to deliberate over whether to release a final report on the matter, sources said, but with Gaetz’s resignation, the House Ethics Committee no longer has the jurisdiction to continue its investigation into him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was “news” to him that the House Ethics Committee was preparing to possibly release a report on Gaetz.
“I was surprised. The speaker is not involved in what happens in ethics. Lots of important reasons for that. So yeah, that was news to me,” Johnson said.
Asked if the committee should still release the report on Gaetz, Johnson didn’t respond.
Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a press conference for House Republicans, following their leadership meeting, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
Nathan Howard/Reuters
The attorney who represents the woman who was at the center of the yearslong Justice Department investigation into allegations that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor is calling on the House Ethics Committee to release its report.
Attorney John Clune, who represents the woman who is now in her 20s, wrote in a post on X he “would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report.”
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have signaled they might oppose Gaetz as Trump’s attorney general nominee.
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general. We need to have a serious Attorney General and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card,” Murkowski told reporters Wednesday.
Asked if the ethics investigation into Gaetz concerned him, GOP Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota said yes.
“Most certainly, it would be concerning because it would be a part of his file,” Rounds said.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin confers with Sen. Richard Blumenthal as the panel convenes to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees in the closing weeks of the 118th Congress in Washington, Nov. 14, 2024.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that Gaetz’s nomination would bring chaos to the Department of Justice and also demanded that the ethics report into Gaetz gets released.
Blumenthal told reporters he could name between five to 10 Republican senators “who are seriously considering voting against this nomination and insisting that there be a vote.”
Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a Gaetz foe after the former Florida congressman led the charge to oust McCarthy from the speakership, said to Bloomberg on Thursday that Gaetz “won’t get confirmed. Everybody knows that.”
When pressed on Trump’s thinking, McCarthy said, “you’d have to ask President [Trump], but Gaetz couldn’t win in a Republican conference. So, doesn’t matter.”
ABC News’ Mariam Khan, Oren Oppenheim, Ben Siegel, Emily Chang and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
Source: abc news
