The ethics committee is due to meet, but it is not clear whether a vote on the Gaetz report is on the agenda

The House Ethics Committee will meet behind closed doors Wednesday, where it is set to discuss its report on its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who resigned from office last week after President-elect Donald Trump selected him as his nominee for attorney general.

The fate of the Gaetz report is in the hands of the committee, which has a reputation for being tight-lipped. It is not clear whether the committee will vote on whether to make the report public.

If there is a vote, a majority of the five Democrats and five Republicans on the committee must approve its release. In other words, at least one Republican must break party lines to join Democrats in forcing its release.

The committee spoke to more than a dozen witnesses, issued at least 25 subpoenas and reviewed thousands of pages of documents in its Gaetz investigation.

The investigation of Gaetz

On April 9, 2021, the secretive panel announced that it had begun a review of allegations that Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illegal drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused government identification information, converted campaign funds for personal use and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity or illegal gift in violation of House Rules, laws or other standards of conduct.”

House Ethics initially postponed its consideration of the case in response to a request from the Justice Department, which was conducting its own multi-year investigation into sex-trafficking in the four-term congressman.

In February 2023, the DOJ informed attorneys representing witnesses that it would not pursue charges against Gaetz.

Gaetz blamed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy when the Ethics Committee reauthorized its investigation in May 2023 after the Justice Department withdrew its request for a stay. Gaetz then successfully led the charge to remove McCarthy as speaker.

In June, the committee announced that it was still investigating whether Gaetz had “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted improper gifts, extended special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and attempted to prevent government investigations into his conduct.”

But it announced it would take “no further action” on allegations that he may have shared inappropriate photos or videos on the House floor, misused government identification information, converted campaign funds to personal use and/or accepted bribes or improper tips.

The House Ethics Committee had nearly completed the investigation before Gaetz abruptly resigned last week after Trump announced he had selected Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general.

The committee generally drops investigations of House members if they leave office, but Republicans and Democrats have argued over whether a break in that precedent is necessary for the Senate to carry out its constitutional duty to advise and consent to presidential nominees.

While the clearest path across water for the report’s release is by accepting a majority vote in the ethics committee, there is also speculation that any individual member could offer a privileged resolution on the floor of parliament to force an up-or-down vote on its disclosure.

What committee leaders have said

Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., has been tight-lipped about the meeting agenda Wednesday, but said he has read the Gaetz report.

The ranking Democrat, Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, told reporters that the Gaetz report should be made public.

“Either you’re going to disclose it or you’re not going to disclose it. So, and there’s plenty of precedent in the ethics committee to disclose the report even after a member has resigned,” Wild said Monday night.

What congressional leaders have said

Johnson has made it clear that he believes the committee should not release an investigative report on a former member of Congress.

“My job is to protect the institution, and I have made it very clear that I think it is an important safeguard for our institution that we do not use the House Ethics Committee to investigate and report on people who are not members of this body,” Johnson said. reporters at the Capitol Tuesday.

Meanwhile, during a news conference Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries answered “Yes” when asked if the report should be released.

Who is on the committee?

The five Republicans on the committee are: Chairman Michael Guest of Mississippi, David Joyce of Ohio, John Rutherford of Florida, Andrew Garbarino of New York and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota.

The five Democrats are: ranking member Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Mark DeSaulnier of California, Deborah Ross of North Carolina and Glenn Ivey of Maryland.