Key Senate Democrats Turn the Screws on GOP Over Matt Gaetz Report

Two Democratic U.S. senators are pressuring House Republicans to release an ethics report into Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, despite his resignation from Congress this week.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to nominate Gaetz, a Florida Republican and staunch supporter ally, as his attorney general. The announcement was met with shock from many in Washington and skepticism about whether enough Republican senators would vote to confirm him.
Shortly after the announcement, Gaetz said he was resigning from Congress. CBS News reported that he wrote in his resignation letter that he does “not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.”
The House Ethics Committee was set to meet this week to vote on whether to release a report into their investigation into allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
In June, the committee said it was investigating whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.
Newsweek reached out to Gaetz’s office and political team, as well as the House Ethics Committee for comment via email.
Representative Michael Guest, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the ethics panel, said his committee only has jurisdiction over current members and would close the probe if Gaetz were to leave Congress.
However, two Democrats sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee called on the House to release the report even after he exited Congress.
Senator Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the committee, called on the ethics committee to “preserve and share their report and all relevant documentation on Mr. Gaetz with the Senate Judiciary Committee,” reported Axios’ Andrew Solender.
“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” Durbin said in a statement. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”
He said the investigation’s findings “could be relevant to the question of Mr. Gaetz’s confirmation.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, also called on House Republicans to release the investigation report in a post to X, formely Twitter.
“I’ll demand release of investigative findings & conclusions concerning Matt Gaetz from the House Ethics Committee. I hope Republican Judiciary Committee members will join me in seeking this highly serious, significant information,” Blumenthal said.
He wrote that the details of the investigation are “directly & indisputably relevant & necessary to Gaetz’s nomination to serve as the highest federal law enforcement officer.”