House Ethics Committee Deadlocks on Release of Gaetz Report

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The House Ethics Committee deadlocked on Wednesday on whether to release its report stemming from an investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump nominated as attorney general last week. As a result, the report will not be released.

One witness testified to the committee that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old girl at a drug-fueled party in 2017 when he was around 35. Two other women testified that Gaetz paid them for sex. He has denied the allegations, which the Department of Justice examined before declining to bring charges last year.

Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), who is the committee’s ranking member, told reporters that “a vote was taken,” suggesting that the panel of five Democrats and five Republicans voted along party lines.

“There was no consensus on this issue,” she said. “We did agree we would reconvene as a committee on December 5th.”

Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives last week, two days ahead of a scheduled Ethics Committee vote to decide whether to release the report, which is said to be “highly damaging” to Gaetz and by extension his prospects for being confirmed by the Senate. The committee postponed the vote to decide how to proceed, given that Gaetz was no longer in Congress.

Several Republican senators have expressed skepticism at his nomination. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have both signaled they will oppose him. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who sits on the Judiciary Committee that will take up Gaetz’s nomination, has said he would like to see the Ethics Committee’s report before making a decision.