Republicans' dueling demands that the Justice Department preserve its records but the Ethics committee keep its mouth shut about theirs went about as well as could be expected.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan outraged onlookers Friday when they spoke out against releasing a report on accusations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug abuse levied against former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
"Let’s hear the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about the results of the the Matt Gaetz ethics investigation," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. "If he’s innocent, then fine. But let’s see it."
Attorney General is the title Gaetz hopes to win with a nod from President-elect Donald Trump, who selected the MAGA firebrand for the role on Wednesday.
This request spurred shock from critics who noted Gaetz had previously called for the Justice department to be abolished and that his former associate was serving time in prison on federal sex trafficking charges.
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That associate, Joel Greenberg, contributed to the Ethics report Johnson does not want released and has accused Gaetz of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl — which Gaetz denies.
Democratic communications consultant Jesse Lee responded with reference to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's claim that he lost his position to Johnson in an ouster orchestrated by Gaetz to kill the probe.
"Of course [Gaetz] is also the only reason [Johnson] has his job," wrote Lee. "Understandable he would want to help Gaetz."
Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison demanded to know, "What are you hiding from the American people?!"
"And shock of shocks," quipped journalist Dan Przygoda.
"No surprise here," added the political group Republicans against Trump. "They’ll do anything to help dear leader Trump get his nominees approved."
NOTUS reporter Reese Gorman told X followers Johnson refused to answer his question about whether his call came at Trump's behest.
"When I asked if Johnson has talked to Trump about the Gaetz ethics report and if Trump told him to push Ethics not to release the report on Gaetz, he dodged the question," wrote Gorman. Johnson reportedly replied, “I’m not talking to anyone about what I’ve said to Trump.”
When Johnson won his party's approval to become House speaker in October 2023, he made the American people a promise, NBC News reported at the time.
Said Johnson, “My office is going to be known for trust and transparency and accountability."
