Former Rep. Matt Gaetz seeks restraining order to stop release of House Ethics report

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., sought a restraining order against the House Ethics Committee on Monday in an attempt to halt the panel’s expected release of a final report summarizing the investigation into him.

The filing accuses the committee of an “unconstitutional” attempt “to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations, in violation of the committee’s own rules.”

Gaetz’s lawyers say in the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, that the committee’s intent to release the report on him “represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections,” after the panel acknowledged that “it lacks jurisdiction over former members.”

The complaint claims the report would irreparably harm Gaetz’s reputation, saying the threatened release “regarding matters of sexual decency and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitute irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied by monetary damages.”