The House ethics committee was deadlocked on releasing a report examining allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative and Donald Trump’s choice to lead the US justice department, after the panel met behind closed doors on Wednesday.
Emerging from the meeting after roughly two hours, most members of the panel declined to offer details on their discussion, but the Republican chair, Michael Guest, told reporters that there was “not an agreement by the committee to release the report”.
Susan Wild, the top Democratic representative on the ethics committee, told reporters that the panel did hold a vote on the matter, but there was “no consensus”. Wild implied that the committee, which is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, broke along party lines and thus could not reach a decision. The panel plans to reconvene on 5 December, Wild added.
The panel has previously said it was investigating claims that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, 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 gift”.
Guest told reporters before the meeting on Wednesday that he had “some reservations” about releasing the report when it had not yet gone through a review process.
“That is something that we will be talking about today, and that’s another reason I have some reservations about releasing any unfinished work product,” Guest said.
The justice department launched its own inquiry into accusations that Gaetz engaged in a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, but the department closed its investigation last year without filing charges. Gaetz has consistently denied the allegations.
Two women testified to congressional investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex and that he was seen having sex with the 17-year-old, a lawyer for the women has said.
As the ethics committee is evenly split between the two parties, it would take only one Republican siding with every Democrat on the panel to have the report released. But prominent Republicans, including the House speaker, Mike Johnson, have cautioned against releasing the report on Gaetz, who resigned his seat immediately after Trump announced his nomination as attorney general.
“I think that would be a Pandora’s box,” Johnson told CNN on Sunday. “I don’t think we want the House ethics committee using all of its vast resources and powers to go after private citizens, and that’s what Matt Gaetz is now.”
Gaetz was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with the vice-president-elect, JD Vance, meeting with some of the senators who will decide his fate. After his conversation with Gaetz, Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist, indicated he was open to supporting the attorney general nominee and condemned the “lynch mob” raising concerns about the sexual misconduct allegations.
“My record is clear. I tend to defer to presidential cabinet choices unless the evidence suggests disqualification,” Graham said in a statement. “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.”
Other Republicans, including Senator Markwayne Mullin, have suggested the report should be at least made available to the senators who will vote on confirming Gaetz’s nomination.
“I believe the Senate should have access to that,” Mullin told NBC News on Sunday. “Now, should it be released to the public or not? I guess that will be part of the negotiations. But that should be definitely part of our decision-making.”
Democrats have appeared open to the idea of releasing the report. Nearly 100 House Democrats signed a letter requesting the ethics committee’s findings be released, noting that there was some precedent for issuing reports on former members who resigned amid scandal.
Representative Sean Casten, who led fellow Democrats in signing the letter, indicated on Wednesday that he would introduce a privileged resolution to require a full House vote on releasing the report. Casten would need the support of only a handful of Republicans to get the resolution approved in the House, where Gaetz has made enemies on both sides of the aisle.
Democratic members of the Senate judiciary committee, which will hold Gaetz’s confirmation hearings, have also requested the FBI’s file on the attorney general nominee.
“The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is crucial that we review all the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr Gaetz’s nomination,” the Democrats wrote on Wednesday in a letter to the FBI director, which was obtained by Politico. “The grave public allegations against Mr Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government.”
RThe representative Susan Wild, the top Democratic representative on the ethics committee, said on Monday that she supported the report’s release, echoing comments made over the weekend by a fellow Democrat on the committee, Rthe representative Glenn Ivey.
“It 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,” Wild told reporters, peraccording to NBC News. “There is precedent for releasing even after a member has resigned.”
If the ethics committee report is released, it could further damage Gaetz’s prospects of Senate confirmation, but Trump has floated the idea of installing his nominees via recess appointment to circumvent the confirmation process.
