House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday urged the House Ethics Committee not to release its report into former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Gaetz — who has been the subject of a slew of allegations, including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use — stepped down shortly after Trump nominated him for attorney general Wednesday. Now, Johnson is requesting the Ethics Committee not publish its investigation into Gaetz on the grounds that it would violate precedent and leave former congressmen exposed to attack after leaving office.

“I believe it is very important to maintain the House’s tradition of not issuing Ethics reports on people who are no longer members of Congress,” Johnson told reporters. “I think it would open a Pandora’s box. It’s a very important rule that should be maintained — if it’s been broken once or twice, it should not have been.”

The Ethics Committee was scheduled to meet Friday regarding the report, but it decided to postpone the meeting following Gaetz’s resignation.

Gaetz is expected to face a difficult confirmation fight in the U.S. Senate, with some Senate Republicans telling The Wall Street Journal that a slew of their peers will vote against the former congressman,. Some claim there has already been talk of trying to convince Trump to select a different nominee.

“It’s simply that Matt Gaetz has a very long, steep hill to get across the finish line,” Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer told the WSJ. “And it will require the spending of a lot of capital, and you just have to ask: if you could get him across the finish line, was it worth the cost?”

Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who recently lost a bid to become Senate Majority Leader, said he “absolutely” wants to see the Ethics report. Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds shared a similar sentiment.

Owen Klinsky
November 15, 2024
Featured Image Credit: Office of Congressman Mike Johnson
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