12 hours Ago By [email protected] (Alix Breeden)
The House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday to block the release of a potentially damning report that investigated sexual misconduct charges against former Rep. Matt Gaetz. This decision comes soon after Gaetz was selected by president-elect and convicted felon Donald Trump to serve as attorney general.
Even though Gaetz is now in line to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer, the bipartisan committee shot down the opportunity for senators to view the report before potentially confirming the 42-year-old as AG. “There was no agreement by the committee to release the report,” Republican Rep. Michael Guest—a chairman of the ethics panel—said as he and other members exited the two-hour meeting.
While the report remains sealed, the Senate Judiciary Committee can subpoena the House committee to hand it over before deciding whether or not to move Gaetz’s nomination forward for a full Senate vote. The controversial former Florida congressman has been under investigation by the committee since 2021 for alleged sexual misconduct involving a minor, illicit drug use, and other questionable affairs. The committee has also stated that Gaetz—who managed to obstruct the investigation simply by stepping down—had potentially attempted to “ obstruct government investigations of his conduct.
” And on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that a federal investigation traced Venmo payments from Gaetz to women who allege they were hired for sex. None of that stopped Gaetz from reportedly making his rounds on Capitol Hill in an attempt to gain the favor of senators who will approve—or reject—his nomination. As Daily Kos previously reported , the committee’s findings were initially set to be released last week.
However, the plan was thwarted after Trump announced Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, prompting his conveniently timed resignation. House Speaker Mike Johnson voiced his desire for the report to be sealed on Nov. 17.
Johnson essentially told “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream that there was no need to pursue Gaetz’s alleged misconduct further since he resigned—despite now being under consideration for AG. "There's a very important reason for the tradition and the rule that we always have—almost always followed—and that is that we don't issue investigations and ethics reports on people who are not members of Congress.” He continued, “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.
” While Johnson fell in lockstep to protect Gaetz, the Republican swiftly turned his ire toward incoming Democratic Congress member Sarah McBride, the first trans person elected to the House. As Daily Kos reported , Johnson has decreed that bathrooms in the Capitol and House office buildings will officially be segregated by “biological sex” from now on. “All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings—such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” Johnson said in a press release .
Bluesky—a swiftly growing social media alternative to X—erupted with outrage. “Love to ban trans women from capitol restrooms in order to ‘protect women and girls’ while suppressing a report about the incoming attorney general paying for the statutory rape of a minor while in congress and showing women’s nudes on the House floor,” one user wrote. An interview with Rep.
Nancy Mace has also made the rounds on the social media platform, in which the South Carolina Republican said her effort to ban transgender women from using the female bathrooms was “absolutely” a hit against McBride. “If someone with a penis is in the locker room, that’s not okay,” Mace said. “I’m a victim of abuse myself.
I’m a rape survivor.” One Bluesky user wrote, “As an assault survivor, Mace should be worried about Matt Gaetz becoming AG, not Sarah McBride for existing.” A resolute McBride addressed the new policy, insisting that this blatant attack on transgender people will not keep her from performing her duties.
“I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down the costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them,” she wrote on X .
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