Calling it an unfinished work product, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said the report ‘has not gone through the review process.’
The House Ethics Committee will not release a report on its findings on a probe on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for now after no consensus was reached.
“There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report,” Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), chairman of the committee, told reporters after the panel met to vote on Nov. 20.
Guest earlier signaled that the panel may not release a report on the former congressman because it isn’t finished or reviewed.
President-elect Donald Trump this past week announced Gaetz as his selection for the role of U.S. attorney general, which will require Senate confirmation after Trump is inaugurated next year. Gaetz resigned his House seat immediately after the nomination.
“I have some reservations about releasing any unfinished work product,” Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chairman, told reporters before the meeting, noting that “it has not gone through the review process.”
Guest also said that members were considering whether to send the Gaetz report to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I view a public release versus a conversation about transmittal to the Senate. I think those are separate conversations that the committee needs to discuss,” the lawmaker said ahead of the meeting.
Gaetz is facing intense scrutiny over allegations threatening to complicate his path to confirmation as the nation’s top federal law enforcement officer.
The House Ethics Committee in April 2021 announced an investigation into whether Gaetz allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, “shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor,” misused state identification records, used campaign funds for personal use, or took bribes, according to a news release from the panel.
Last year, the lawmaker said in a statement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had ended a related sex trafficking investigation with no charges against him. He has also categorically denied claims related to the ethics panel’s investigation, noting that the DOJ ended that probe.
“The Department of Justice has confirmed to Congressman Gaetz’s attorneys that their investigation has concluded and that he will not be charged with any crimes,” a statement from his office said last year.
A spokesperson for Trump’s team, meanwhile, said that the claims against Gaetz “are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he believes the report should not be made public since Gaetz is no longer a House member.
“I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House,” Johnson told reporters at the U.S. Capitol building this past week. “And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.”
Several Senate Republicans have expressed concern about Gaetz’s nomination or declined to say publicly whether they will support him. Gaetz has been calling senators and is expected to start meeting with some of them as soon as this week, some senators have said.
Senators are also divided over whether to demand access to the House Ethics Committee report.
An attorney involved in a civil case brought by a Gaetz associate was told this week about an unknown person’s unauthorized access to case documents.
The attorney, Joel Leppard, said the files included unredacted depositions from a woman who claimed she had a sexual encounter with Gaetz when she was 17 as well as a second woman who said she saw the alleged incident. The former Florida lawmaker has denied having sex with a minor.
The documents were part of a defamation case filed by the associate against Gaetz’s onetime political ally Joel Greenberg. Gaetz is not part of the lawsuit.
In a statement this past week announcing his pick, Trump said Gaetz would root out “systemic corruption” at the Justice Department and return the department “to its true mission of fighting crime and upholding our democracy and Constitution.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.