Watchdog Urges House Panel to Publicly Release Ethics Report on Trump AG Pick Matt Gaetz

A leading government watchdog group on Thursday implored the House Ethics Committee to make public the findings of its yearslong investigation into Matt Gaetz, who abruptly resigned from Congress Wednesday shortly after President-elect Donald Trump named the Florida Republican as his attorney general pick.

"While Mr. Gaetz can no longer be sanctioned by the committee or the House, nothing in committee or House rules bars the committee from sharing its report, findings, and exhibits with the public," Donald Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), wrote in a letter to the leaders of the ethics panel.

"In fact, the committee's charge to prevent violations of and promote compliance with House rules and related statutes by House members, officers, or employees demands release of this information to the public," Sherman added. "The public has a right to access and review the committee's findings. This demand is even more acute given that the committee was also investigating allegations that Mr. Gaetz sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct, and he has now been nominated to become the next attorney general."

Trump's announcement and Gaetz's resignation from his congressional seat came two days before the House ethics panel was reportedly planning to vote to release a report on its findings. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Wednesday that Gaetz's resignation effectively shut down the ethics committee probe, given that the panel "has no jurisdiction" over former members of Congress.

But CREW observed in its letter that the House Ethics Committee has previously sustained probes and released findings after the lawmaker under investigation stepped down.

"The committee has the discretion to pick and choose when continuing investigations or releasing investigative findings are in the public interest," the letter notes. "It should do so here."

"The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz's resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report."

The ethics committee's probe of Gaetz began in 2021 after a New York Times report revealed that the Florida Republican was "being investigated by the Justice Department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old" and violated federal sex trafficking laws.

The DOJ ended its Gaetz probe last year without bringing charges.

Upon launching its probe, the House ethics panel said it would examine whether Gaetz "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, in violation of House rules, laws, or other standards of conduct."

Calls for the House Ethics Committee to, at the very least, release its findings to senators tasked with voting on Gaetz's confirmation to lead the Justice Department have come from both Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters Thursday that the Senate "should gain access to all relevant information by whatever means necessary," including a subpoena.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Thursday that the House ethics panel must "preserve and share their report and all relevant documentation on Mr. Gaetz with the Senate Judiciary Committee."

"The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz's resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report," said Durbin. "We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people. Make no mistake: This information could be relevant to the question of Mr. Gaetz's confirmation as the next attorney general of the United States and our constitutional responsibility of advice and consent."