Ethics committee probe into Matt Gaetz kept under wraps – for now

The House Ethics Committee has failed to agree on whether to release its probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz but Democrats won’t let the affair end here.

Matt Gaetz and JD Vance arrive for meetings with Senators at the US Capitol. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

The House Ethics Committee will not release its years-long investigation into sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and bribery allegations against Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney-General, Matt Gaetz.

In a two-hour meeting on Wednesday afternoon (Thursday AEDT), the House Ethics Committee – which includes five Republicans and five Democrats – was unable to reach agreement on whether to release its report.

This was despite senators from both sides having pressed for the findings to be released ahead of the confirmation process, with the deadlock now opening the door for a fresh struggle to play out between the House and the Senate.

The Democratic chair of the separate Senate Judiciary panel, Dick Durbin, has floated the prospect of subpoenaing information from the House Ethics Committee as well as the Department of Justice which also conducted a probe into Mr Gaetz.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is critical because it will be tasked with voting on whether to send Mr Gaetz’s nomination through to the Senate. Reportedly, Mr Gaetz has been ringing members of the Senate Judiciary panel to help clear his passage.

On Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee continued to ramp-up the political pressure on Mr Gaetz by requesting that FBI Director Christopher Wray provide the complete evidentiary file in the investigation into the former congressman’s “alleged sex trafficking of minors.”

Signed by ten Democratic senators, the letter said the Senate had a “constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees.”

“It is crucial that we review all the information necessary to fulfil this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination,” the letter said.

“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.”

Republican Senator John Cornyn who also sits on the Senate Judiciary panel last week indicated he was open to subpoenaing the House Ethics Committee if it did not release its findings, saying that “we need to have a complete vetting of the nominees.”

House Democrat Sean Casten threatened on Wednesday (Thursday) to bring on a vote to force the House Ethics Committee to release its report.

“The allegations against Matt Gaetz are serious. They are credible. The House Ethics Committee has spent years conducting a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it,” he said. “This information must be made available for the Senate to provide its constitutionally required advice and consent.”

Mr Gaetz met in Washington with Republican senators on Wednesday (Thursday) where he was accompanied by Vice President-elect JD Vance. He met with Senator Cornyn as well as Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Graham has expressed scepticism about whether the Senate Judiciary panel could subpoena information from the House Ethics Committee. Issuing a statement on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT), Senator Graham also urged his Republican colleagues not to act as a “lynch mob” against Mr Gaetz – nor to serve as a “rubber stamp” for his appointment.

“I had a very good meeting with President Trump’s nominee for Attorney-General, Matt Gaetz, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. I am committed to allowing the process to go forward in a manner consistent with past practices and fundamental fairness,” he said.

“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. I would urge all of my Senate colleagues, particularly Republicans, not to join the lynch mob and give the process a chance to move forward.

“After years of being investigated by the Department of Justice, no charges were brought against Matt Gaetz. This is something we should all remember.”

The Republican chair of the House Ethics Committee, Michael Guest, said after the meeting on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) that “there was not an agreement by the committee to release the report.”

Earlier, Mr Guest told CNN that he had reservations about releasing the panel’s report because it was still in the “final review” stages.

“I have some reservations about releasing any unfinished work product,” he said.

While the findings of the report are not publicly known, they are widely expected to be damaging for the 42-year-old Mr Gaetz.

Florida lawyer Joel Leppard this week gave multiple media interviews saying that two of his clients had given evidence to the House Ethics Committee that they were paid by Mr Gaetz for sex.

In addition, they had attended parties with him from 2017 to January 2019 where illegal drugs were present, with one client saying that she witnessed Mr Gaetz having sex with a minor in July 2017.

Mr Gaetz has denied any wrong doing.

However, suspicions about Mr Gaetz intensified after he resigned from congress immediately after being announced as Mr Trump’s pick for Attorney-General – with his departure preventing the House Ethics Committee from releasing its report which was expected late last week.

The House Speaker Mike Johnson has argued that former members of congress should remain beyond the jurisdiction of the House Ethics Committee. The Louisiana Republican warned over the weekend that breaking this convention would open “a Pandora’s box.”

Sources have already briefed media outlets that the House Ethics Committee was deadlocked along partisan lines in its Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) meeting.

Given the report has not yet been finalised, the committee voted on whether the report should be finalised and released in December – but this issue could also not be resolved.