A.G. Gancarski
A U.S. Senator from Texas and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee wants answers as to what the House Ethics Committee has on U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said he “absolutely” wants full disclosure on the House probe, which was expected to be released formally this week before the Panama City Beach Republican’s abrupt resignation from this Congress and the next. Though the investigation has paused, a version of the document is already widely expected to leak.
It could go further still, being prominently introduced to the evidentiary process.
Cornyn told reporters Thursday there “should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee generates.”
Even if there is not a formal report, the Senate panel could request or subpoena draft copies of the report and other documentary evidence associated with the unresolved charges hanging over Gaetz, complicating his appointment even before a full Senate floor hearing.
Gaetz resigned from Congress this week after President-elect Donald Trump selected him to be Attorney General.
The House Ethics Committee inquiry was still probing whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct or illegal drug use, and whether he granted special favors to romantic interests.
In June, Gaetz proclaimed his innocence in matters declared resolved.
“The House Ethics Committee has closed four probes into me, which emerged from lies intended solely to smear me,“ Gaetz posted on X. “Instead of working with me to ban Congressional stock trading, the Ethics Committee is now opening new frivolous investigations. They are doing this to avoid the obvious fact that every investigation into me ends the same way: my exoneration.”
In June, the committee lamented the “difficulty in obtaining relevant information from Representative Gaetz and others,” but suggested an exhaustive review of evidence, including conversations “with more than a dozen witnesses … 25 subpoenas and (review of) thousands of pages of documents in this matter.”
The allegations go back to a widely reported sex scandal involving Gaetz that stemmed from a probe of crimes by former Seminole County Tax Collector and Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg.
The New York Times in March 2021 first reported on a Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz had ever illegally sex-trafficked a minor across state lines. But federal prosecutors in February of 2023 ultimately decided not to charge Gaetz with any crime.
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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
13 comments
PeterH
November 14, 2024 at 1:53 pm
FUN FACT:
If Matt Gaetz or Gabbard showed up for a job interview at the FBI ….. neither would never be hired!
If the Senate approves these nominations or allows Trump to install either of these wingnuts with a recess appointment….. THAT SHOULD BE THE END OF FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS SHARING ANY KNOWN INTELLIGENCE WITH THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
Red Storm
November 14, 2024 at 8:57 pm
Now remind us who and what administration he was in that released classified information on the planned Israeli retaliation attack in Iran? What say you phony independent?
MH/Duuuval
November 15, 2024 at 5:07 pm
No source, as usual. Just crap pulled from someone’s Truth Social account.
Ocean Joe
November 15, 2024 at 6:38 pm
Ed, you already forget Trump personally sharing confidential info on Israeli spies in Syria to Russia’s ambassador? Come on now, let’s not be so selective.
MH/Duuuval
November 16, 2024 at 9:46 am
Will the classified files Trump “declassified” — in his mind as he was shipping them to Florida — be headed back to the White House?
Cat 5 Sara
November 14, 2024 at 2:28 pm
All you ignorant people that voted for him,I do think only a Cat 6 hurricane,will get the people of Florida attention,
Red Storm
November 14, 2024 at 5:47 pm
I’m a Republican and want to see the report. Unlike most Demo’s I can call out Repubs I don’t like. Demo’s are true zombies and March to the beat of the Pelosi drums no matter what.
The Cat In The MAGA Hat
November 14, 2024 at 8:37 pm
You can’t handle the truth that Trump has poor judgement
MH/Duuuval
November 15, 2024 at 5:09 pm
Caprice reigns in Trumpworld. Maybe they’ll bring in Mike Tyson to bite off Nancy Pelosi’s ear.
PAY UP
November 14, 2024 at 6:38 pm
MAGA TRASH, you march to the beat of an orange turd. you have no room to talk. i laugh at you low info dudes thinking you know something. sometimes the worst candidate wins an election instead of the better ..you don’t have a clue do you? i blame you for voting to ruin my country. shame on you.
Red Storm
November 14, 2024 at 8:55 pm
Angry and bitter and loser Rick Whitaker with absolutely nothing to add. You and your party got run over by an inferior candidate brought to you by coup leader Pelosi. The meltdown has been epic and I am laughing at your old senile azz.
MarvinM
November 14, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Good for John Cornyn!
There should not be one senator of any party that does not want to see that information before they do their solemn duty to advise and then consent (or not) about a president’s cabinet pick.
This was not a DOJ investigation, it was an investigation run by a committee of the House of Representatives, which, last I heard, was headed by and consisted of a majority of Republicans!
The report may not have recommended expulsion, censure, stripping Gaetz of committee membership, or criminal charges.
But what’s in there may bear on the kind of character Gaetz has, his sense of judgment, all kinds of things that should be known so people can make an informed choice.
MH/Duuuval
November 15, 2024 at 5:13 pm
Cornyn and Thune fighting a rear-guard action against DJT’s aggression. Speaker Johnson already surrendered.
Gabbard and Soap Rope Man are queuing up. More bathos ahead.