Matt Gaetz Ethics Committee Report to Be Released After Secret House Panel Vote

The House Ethics Committee secretly voted last month to release an investigative report into Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative from Florida, according to multiple outlets on Wednesday. The report is expected to be released when the House completes its business for the year, according to CNN.

Gaetz has been under investigation by the Ethics Committee since 2021 for a number of accusations, including engaging in sexual misconduct, misusing state identification records and accepting gifts that broke House rules. He has denied all charges.

Gaetz responded Wednesday with a fiery retort on X:

The Biden/Garland DOJ spent years reviewing allegations that I committed various crimes,” Gaetz wrote. “I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me.”

Gaetz reiterated that the DOJ deemed the witnesses not credible, but the committee gathered them anyway for its report “absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys.” He continued with a mild mea culpa:

“In my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated – even some I never dated but who asked,” he said. “I dated several of these women for years. I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. … My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life.”

The 42-year-old was President-elect Donald Trump’s first pick to be attorney general following his election victory in November. However, Gaetz withdrew his nomination after it became clear that the polarizing Republican representative didn’t have the necessary confirmation votes in the Senate. Before that, he submitted his resignation from Congress.

“Haggling on Capitol Hill over the report intensified after President-elect Donald J. Trump announced last month that he had chosen Mr. Gaetz to lead the Justice Department,” The New York Times reported on Wednesday, “prompting anger and concern among members of both parties on Capitol Hill who were aware of serious allegations against him.”

The vote to release the investigative report “amounts to a stark reversal” for the panel, CNN added, after it previously voted to not release it.

Last week, it was announced Gaetz would anchor his own primetime show on One America News Network (OAN), the conservative network.

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