WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing the panel’s findings long-term investigation President-elect Donald Trump’s candidate for attorney general, a former member of the Republican Party. Matt Gaetz, the top Democrat on the panel said.
But the result is only ephemeral relief for Gaetz, who faces sexual misconduct charges as he personally seeks to secure a hard nomination as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
The House panel expects to meet again on December 5 to reconsider publishing its findings.
“There was no consensus on this issue,” said Republican Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the panel’s top Democrat, who said the evenly split committee voted along party lines.
The conflict comes as Trump and Gaetz prepare for a potentially long and brutal confirmation fight. On Wednesday, Gaetz met privately with Republican senators who have heard questions about the allegations and will be considering their votes on his nomination.
Trump has a in Gaetz valued ally which lays out wide-ranging proposals to rid the Justice Department of those perceived as such “armed” their activities against the president-elect, his allies, and conservatives in general.
At least one Republican senator decried the scrutiny as a “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz.
“I’m not going to legitimize the process of destroying this man because people don’t like his policies,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as she left a private meeting of senators.
“He deserves a chance to make his case for why he should be attorney general,” Graham said. “No stamp, no lynch mob.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Miss., who supports Gaetz’s nomination, said: “If you have doubts, that’s OK. But don’t decide yet. Let this guy testify first.
Gaetz denied it for a long time mounting allegations against him.
However, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee has not completed its work.
Wild said the committee voted in a lengthy closed-door meeting and no Republicans joined Democrats in wanting to release the report. The vote to release only the evidence underlying the report also failed according to party rules, according to the person, who was granted anonymity to discuss the private session.
However, the House committee voted to finalize the report, which was adopted with some Republican support, the person added.
Wild said she was compelled to speak out after the panel’s Republican chairman, Republican Michael Guest of Mississippi, characterized what happened in his session. He stated that no agreement had been reached on this matter.
As Gaetz began campaigning for confirmation, Trump himself told senators he hoped to “get Matt to the finish line,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., who was with the president-elect and others during SpaceX rocket launch on Tuesday with billionaire Elon Musk in Texas.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, an Ohio senator, accompanied Gaetz on the Senate floor, mostly with members of the Judiciary Committee, which will be the first stop in confirmation proceedings. The meeting with Senate allies was largely a strategy session, during which he stressed the need for a hearing where he could lay out his and Trump’s vision for the Justice Department.
It follows a meeting Gaetz held earlier this week with the conservative House Freedom Caucus, whose members expressed enthusiasm for his approach to wholesale change, which created an atmosphere anxiety and fear at the faculty.
Vance reminded GOP senators that Trump’s presidential victory had certain limitations that swelled their ranks to a majority. “He deserves a cabinet loyal to the agenda he was elected to pursue,” the outgoing senator from Ohio wrote on social media.
At the same time, there were attorneys involved in a civil case brought by Gaetz’s partner notified this week that an unauthorized person accessed records shared with lawyers that included unredacted statements in a federal investigation by a woman who claimed Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17 and a second woman who claims she saw the encounter , according to attorney Joel Leppard.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter Wednesday asking FBI Director Christopher Wray to provide the panel with “complete evidentiary documentation,” including forms commemorating “closed hearings.” investigation regarding alleged sex trafficking of minors by former Congressman Matt Gaetz.”
Gaetz said he belongs to the department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking involving underage girls, regardless of the House committee’s investigation, ended without any federal charges.
“The serious public allegations against Mr. Gaetz directly testify to his fitness to serve as the federal government’s top law enforcement officer,” wrote Judiciary Chairman Sen. Dick Durbin, R-Ill., and other panel members.
Although House Speaker Mike Johnson, D-La., said the committee should not release the report because Gaetz quickly resigned from Congress after Trump announced his nomination, several GOP senators said they wanted all the information before deciding how to proceed. they would vote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who also met with Gaetz, said of the committee’s report: “We didn’t go into much detail about what he expected to find there, but he expressed confidence that what the committee will come up with is a series of false accusations.”
Gaetz appeared at congressional oversight hearings complaining about what conservatives say is favoritism at the Justice Department, which has accused Trump of allegedly mishandling classified documents after he left office and for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election before the elections scheduled for January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
However, the president-elect’s choice was one of the most surprising and provocative.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a Trump ally, said she had a great meeting with Gaetz and looks forward to “swift confirmation of our next attorney general.” She wrote on social media that Trump’s cabinet “will shake up the DC swamp and we look forward to moving up his nominees.”
Cramer still said Gaetz had a “steep climb” to confirmation.
“Donald Trump is understandably, justifiably and genuinely concerned that he has an attorney general who is willing to do what he wants him to do,” Cramer said. “Matt Gaetz is definitely a guy who can take no punches.”
Immediately after the novel Congress convenes on January 3, 2025, when Republicans take majority control, senators are expected to begin questioning Trump’s nominees, with voting possible on Inauguration Day, January 20.
