House speaker tries to shield Matt Gaetz—and his reason is absurd

House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday the House Ethics Committee report detailing sexual misconduct allegations against now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz shouldn't be released, claiming it would set a bad precedent for the House. The committee was preparing to vote to release a harsh report this week detailing allegations that Gaetz had drug-fueled sex parties with minors and showed images of his sexual exploits to fellow members on the House floor.

But after Donald Trump shockingly nominated him to be attorney general, Gaetz abruptly resigned his seat in Congress on Wednesday night—likely an effort to stop the report from being made public ahead of his confirmation hearing. (The committee loses jurisdiction over members once they are no longer in office.) “I'm going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House,” Johnson said, according to Politico.



“And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.” Many Republicans loathe Gaetz , whom they view as an unrepentant creep. Rep.

Max Miller of Ohio, a Donald Trump ally , said on Wednesday that Gaetz is "literally worse than gum on the bottom of my shoe," and added that Gaetz is "a complete weirdo." Right-wing media personality Ben Domenech, husband of Meghan McCain, wrote a scathing newsletter calling Gaetz a “ vile sex pest ” and said, “If you vote for him to be the attorney general of the United States, you don’t just need your head examined, you need to be committed to a mental institution.” From Domenech’s newsletter: The Wall Street Journal reported that Gaetz’s nomination may even be doomed, counting as many as 30 Republican senators who would vote against his confirmation.

But color us skeptical since Republicans always find a way to justify giving Trump exactly what he wants, no matter how unsavory the request may be. Other Republicans have said that the Senate should see the ethics report. Sen.

John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is charged with holding hearings on Gaetz’s nomination, said senators should get to see the ethics report. “We need to have a complete vetting of the nominees, not only so we know that the nominee is qualified, but also to protect the president,” Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill on Thursday. Yet Johnson claims he wants to protect precedent.

Of course, not releasing the report would set other awful precedents. First, it would set the precedent that members can resign rather than face any repercussions for their actions. It would also set the precedent that you can be accused of sleeping with minors at drug-fueled parties and then become the nation's top law enforcement officer.

The only explanation for Johnson wanting to keep the report under seal is that he has to bend the knee to Trump, who wants Gaetz as attorney general to carry out his goal of seeking vengeance against his perceived enemies. Releasing the report would make it that much harder for Republicans to justify confirming Gaetz. And Johnson doesn’t want to be responsible for helping scuttle Gaetz’s nomination and make Dear Leader mad.

.