House Ethics Committee is deadlocked on whether to release Gaetz report

Updated November 20, 2024 at 17:00 PM ET

The U.S. House Committee on Ethics is deadlocked on whether to release its report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose nomination to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general has been plagued by controversy.

After meeting behind closed doors for about two hours Wednesday, panel Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters "there was not an agreement by the committee to release the report."

Ranking Member Susan Wild, D-Pa., said shortly after that there was "no consensus" on the issue, and that the committee will revisit the matter in a meeting on Dec. 5.

"I will say that a vote was taken," Wild said. "As many of you know, this committee is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans — five Dems, five Republicans — which means that in order to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side ... that did not happen in today's vote."

The highly anticipated report is the culmination of a probe into allegations that Gaetz participated in sex parties, used illegal drugs and had sex with a minor. The FBI investigated similar allegations beginning in 2021, but the Department of Justice did not bring charges.

Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida and a loyal Trump defender, resigned his seat before the panel voted on the report, and insists he did nothing wrong.

Gaetz himself was on Capitol Hill Wednesday meeting with the Senate Republicans who likely will determine his fate as Trump's nominee to lead the DOJ. Several have said they want to see the ethics report as part of Gaetz's confirmation process, but have generally treaded cautiously about his nomination. Some publicly say he faces an uphill battle and will have to answer tough questions through the confirmation process.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn — who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would take up the nomination — told reporters he wanted to see the full record about Gaetz, and expected details of the ethics report would come out in some form. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the judiciary chair, sent a letter to the House panel requesting the report and records of the investigation be turned over immediately to the Senate committee.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned that releasing the report violated the panel's practice of not publicly revealing any information about probes of lawmakers who were no longer House members, saying it would open "Pandora's box."

But ethics Chair Guest previously told NPR that the speaker "will not be influencing the decision of the committee. We will reach an independent decision as a committee when we meet."

Wild, the top Democrat on the panel, has said the report "should certainly be released to the Senate, and I think it should be released to the public, as we have done with many other investigative reports in the past."

Democrats are pushing the issue: 97 House Democrats sent a letter to the committee Tuesday "requesting the immediate release of its report." Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., said Wednesday that he plans to force a full House vote on whether the report should be released.

Kedric Payne — a former House ethics attorney and currently with the Campaign Legal Center — told NPR there are examples of the panel releasing their reports after members have left, "they absolutely can release it. They just typically don't."

Attorney for women reveals their ethics testimony

Joel Leppard, an attorney who represents two women who testified before the House Committee on Ethics, told NPR that his clients were among a group of four or five young women in the Orlando area who knew Gaetz and met up with him in 2017 and 2018. He said they testified that they attended sex and drug parties with Gaetz, who was then a sitting member of the House.

One of Leppard's clients told the committee that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor at a party in July 2017. The woman also detailed how Gaetz paid them — with Venmo and PayPal, with notations and dates for each occasion.

Gaetz, who led the charge to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, alienated many of his fellow House Republicans for launching the chamber into weeks of chaos as they sorted out whom to elect speaker. McCarthy openly said Gaetz was trying to end the ethics probe and that the committee needed to complete its work.

The Justice Department investigated Gaetz but declined to bring any charges. As the House ethics panel considered his case he publicly released in September his response to questions about engaging in sex with a minor, saying "the answer to this question is unequivocally NO."

Gaetz begins Hill outreach

Trump, asked on Tuesday if he was reconsidering Gaetz's nomination, gave a firm "no."

Several Republican senators argue Trump won the election and deserves to install the people he wants in top Cabinet positions.

Vice President-elect JD Vance, an Ohio U.S. senator, accompanied Gaetz to his first set of meetings on Wednesday.

South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a member of the Judiciary panel, said he had a "very good meeting" with both Gaetz and Vance.

He added: "I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before." He didn't explicitly say he would vote for Gaetz, but urged his colleagues not to "join the lynch mob" and give him the chance to make his case.

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