Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) (left) and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Ohio) after meeting with Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, on November 20, 2024. , Florida) leaves the U.S. Capitol. .
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The bipartisan House Ethics Committee deadlocked Wednesday on whether to release its investigation report into allegations of sexual misconduct and other misconduct by former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The result of the vote means that the report on Gaetz, who was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next U.S. attorney general, will not be released for the time being.
Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Mississippi) told reporters after a closed-door meeting at the Capitol: “There was no agreement to release the report.”
Rep. Susan Wilde of Pennsylvania said the vote on the 10-member committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, fell along partisan lines.
“There was no consensus on this issue,” Wilde said.
He noted that the committee had indeed agreed to reconvene on December 5 to “further consider this matter.”
Asked whether he agreed with his guest’s earlier statement that the committee’s report was incomplete, Mr. Wilde paused for a moment before saying: ”
of ethics investigation whether Mr. Gates engaged in sexual misconduct or illegal drug use, received any inappropriate gifts, provided special favors to personal associates, or obstructed a government investigation into Mr. Gates’ conduct; The focus is on whether or not they tried.
The committee suspended its investigation in May 2023 at the request of the Justice Department, and was conducting its own investigation into allegations that Gates engaged in sex trafficking of underage girls.
The Justice Department closed its investigation without filing charges. The commission reauthorized the investigation in May 2023.
Mr. Gates has denied all wrongdoing. In September, he said he would no longer volunteer to participate in ethics investigations, but said the committee had asked him if he had “ever engaged in sexual activity with an individual under the age of 18.”
“The answer to this question is a resounding no,” he wrote back.
The committee had been investigating Gates until his resignation from Congress last week, shortly after President Trump selected him to be the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Guest said Gaetz’s resignation will remove him from the committee’s jurisdiction.
President Trump’s decision to appoint Gaetz, whose tenure as a lawmaker was full of controversial statements and feuds with other members of Congress, to a senior Cabinet position, drew fierce opposition from Democrats and surprise from Republicans.
Of all the people Trump has chosen to join his next administration, Gaetz is seen as having the least chance of being confirmed by the Senate. wall street journal Reports on Friday indicated that the number of Senate Republicans opposed to Gaetz’s nomination far exceeds the three Republican votes he is willing to lose in the next Congress.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier Wednesday called on the FBI to turn over all evidence collected in its investigation into Gates.
“The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent to presidential candidates, and in considering Gaetz’s nomination, we must take necessary steps to fulfill this duty,” the letter from Democratic Chairman Dick Durbin said. It is extremely important to consider all available information.” Illinois and nine other Democrats.
