The House Ethics Committee is reportedly set to release the results of its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who recently withdrew as Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general. An ethics investigation into Gaetz’s alleged involvement with sex trafficking was first launched in 2021.
CNN and The New York Times reported on Wednesday morning that the House Ethics Committee voted in secret earlier in December to release the document, which is expected to come out at the peak of the holiday season, when attention to the news is usually at its lowest.
Conveniently for the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans, the information was blocked from public view when Gaetz was the active nominee to lead the Department of Justice. That’s because Republicans, who hold the House majority, voted in November to hide the report.
Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump had nominated him—a move seen as a gambit to keep the ethics report out of the public eye since the committee does not have jurisdiction over former members. But the importance of the job Trump had nominated him for, as well as the alleged severity of Gaetz’s actions, led to a call for the report’s release.
House Speaker Mike Johnson justified hiding the report in a friendly appearance with Fox News, saying, “I’m afraid that that would open a Pandora’s box because the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee is limited to those who are serving in the institution.” But a few other Republicans disagreed with that plan, apparently concerned that Gaetz’s alleged activities were too controversial for even them to stomach.
While the precise details of the report remain unknown, a New York Times report on the hacked content of the investigation alleges damning conduct by the self-styled “firebrand” Republican. The Times reported that a hacker obtained sworn testimony from a woman who alleged she had sex with Gaetz when she was 17, in addition to testimony from another person who said they witnessed Gaetz allegedly having sex with a minor.
The ethics committee said in June that the probe was an investigation into whether Gaetz “may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”
In a lengthy post to X on Wednesday, Gaetz seemingly confirmed the focus of the probe as he downplayed past drug and alcohol use and admitted he “sent funds to women” he dated, while adamantly denying any involvement with minors.
Ultimately, Gaetz pulled his attorney general nomination, and Trump selected lawyer Pam Bondi as his replacement nominee. Bondi has her own host of ethics concerns and a history as a 2020 election conspiracy theorist, but unlike Gaetz, there are so far no allegations of sexual impropriety against her.
Gaetz’s consolation prize for his trainwreck of a nomination is a job as a host on a cable TV network. “The Matt Gaetz Show” will not be on Fox News or even Newsmax, however, but instead will reside at the far-right, third-tier One America News Network.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s response.
