House Ethics Committee Secretly Reverses Course on Matt Gaetz in New Ethics Report Vote: Report
The House Ethics Committee has decided to release its report on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida after last month deciding to keep it under wraps, according to multiple reports.
The panel voted in secret earlier this month to release the report, according to CNN, which cited sources it did not name.
The report will be released after the final House vote of the year, according to The Washington Post, which also cited sources it did not name.
Releasing the report became a hot topic in Washington after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Gaetz to become Attorney General.
Gaetz, citing an uphill battle in the Senate, withdrew.
Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi opposed releasing the report after Gaetz was out of Congress, but Democrats wanted it made public, the Post wrote.
Past practice has usually been not to release reports on members after they have left Congress, but that is not a hard-and-fast rule.
CNN’s report noted that for the panel to change its vote, some Republicans who opposed releasing the report must have changed their votes, but the outlet did not name names.
Gaetz was under investigation for a host of allegations he denied.
Allegations against him included sexual misconduct, drug use, and whether he “shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gifts,” the panel said.
Gaetz posted his defense on X, noting that the Biden-era Justice Department had been poking around in the same stew of allegations against him and decided there was no case to prosecute. (WARNING: Following the link will lead to a post that contains vulgar language that may be offensive to some readers.)
“The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes. I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me,” he wrote.
“Then, the very ‘witnesses’ DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys.
“I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued. Instead, House Ethics will reportedly post a report online that I have no opportunity to debate or rebut as a former member of the body,” he wrote.
Gaetz wrote that he has made mistakes in the past, but never acted illegally.
“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated — even some I never dated but who asked. I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court — which is why no such claim was ever made in court,” he wrote.
“My 30’s were an era of working very hard — and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life.
“I live a different life now. But at least I didn’t vote for CR’s that f*** over the country!” he wrote, referring to a budget deal Congress is now considering to avoid a government shutdown.
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