By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-05 23:46:46 | Updated at 2024-12-22 11:52:31
2 weeks ago
Republicans defeated an effort by Democrats to force the release of a bombshell ethics report into MAGA firebrand Matt Gaetz.
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating allegations that Trump's former attorney general pick Gaetz had sex with a minor and did illegal drugs while a federal employee.
Multiple reports indicating Gaetz paid two girls over $10,000 for sex, and that he inquired about them bringing 'party favors' - slang for drugs - led to the demise of his AG nomination as GOP senators expressed many reservations about his past.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied all of the allegations and likened the Ethics Committee's investigation as a smear campaign against him.
After a high-stakes Ethics Committee meeting earlier Thursday, the bipartisan panel said they would not put out the report.
'The Committee met today to discuss the matter of Representative Matt Gaetz. The Committee is continuing to discuss the matter. There will be no further statements other than in accordance with the Committee and House Rules.'
But Democratic Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois and Steve Cohen of Tennessee had both offered resolutions to force a vote on releasing the committee's report.
Those resolutions were voted down on the House floor by Republicans on Thursday evening, delivering a blow to the Democrats' plan.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (L) the President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be Attorney General walks alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance (R) as they arrive for meetings with Senators at the U.S. Capitol on November 20, 2024 in Washington, D.C. The following day Gaetz withdrew his nomination for AG
The House Ethics Committee convened on Thursday to discuss ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz pending report regarding sexual misconduct and drug use allegations
The House Ethics Committee decided against releasing the Gaetz report on Thursday
Many Democrats have called for its release, while Republicans say publishing the report on the former lawmaker is no longer important given he withdrew his nomination to become attorney general on November 21, just over a week after he was nominated and resigned his congressional seat.
Two weeks ago, the panel deadlocked on whether they should release the file, opted against taking any action and planned a follow up session for today.
Thursday's afternoon meeting again revolved around discussing whether they should publish the potentially damaging file, though they ultimately chose against it for now.
Gaetz's longtime rival, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Gaetz ousted from power last year, has said the former Florida Republican was looking for an excuse to get out of Congress and away from the potentially disastrous report.
'Matt wanted an out,' McCarthy said on NewsNation on Wednesday. 'He wanted [the] excuse to resign, even though other people have been nominated, but they didn’t resign from Congress.'
Because of the committee's decision, the report should not see the light of day.
However, Democrats still attempted to get the report into the public eye by forcing votes on its release on the House floor.
Releasing it would break with past precedent set by the panel that no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz after he resigned from Congress one day after being tapped to be the nation's highest law enforcement official.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has previously come out firmly against the report's release, saying he strongly advises against it, but the committee decided to vote on it any way.
Bombshell testimony from Orlando-based attorney Joel Leppard, who represents two women who claim to have information on Gaetz's allegedly lurid past, fueled lawmaker's and the public's demand to see the file.
Gaetz allegedly partied, used drugs and paid women for sex repeatedly between 2017 and 2019 while serving in the House of Representatives, Leppard claims.
Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (C) and wife Ginger Luckey Gaetz talk with another guest at the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach.
Joel Leppard of Leppard Law is representing two women making allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz
The allegations have been central to the House Ethics Committee investigation into the ex-lawmaker as the women have reportedly testified before the panel.
The Republican attended up to 10 'sex parties' where illegal drugs and 'group sex situations' were present, according to Leppard.
Both women represented by Leppard allege that Gaetz paid them for sex via Venmo, the attorney claims.
Gaetz paid upwards of $10,000 dollars to two women on Venmo between 2017 - 2019, ABC News reports.
'She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,' Leppard said Monday.
One of the witnesses alleges that she saw her friends having sex with Gaetz at a party in July 2017 against a game table thought to be an air hockey table.
The unnamed witness also says that her friend was 17 years old at the time.
