House lawmakers voted Thursday on two privileged resolutions, both introduced by Democrats, on whether to compel the release the House Ethics Committee’s report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz. One, from Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, would have required the committee to make the report public; and another, from Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, would have directed the committee to preserve and release records related to its investigation.
Both resolutions were referred back to the committee almost entirely along a party-line vote, effectively ending the matter.
Earlier on Thursday, the House Ethics Committee failed again to come to an agreement to release its report on its investigation into Gaetz, a move that set the stage for the full House vote on Thursday evening. The ethics committee, which consists of five Republicans and five Democrats, had previously failed to reach a consensus on whether to make the report public in a closed-door meeting on Nov. 20. At the time, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, D-Pa., suggested that the vote split along party lines.
“I’m not going to speculate on future action that the committee may take,” Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., said when asked whether it might still vote to release the report, according to NBC News.
Gaetz was investigated by the ethics committee over allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. A separate Justice Department investigation into allegations that Gaetz engaged in sex trafficking ended last year without any charges being brought against him. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing in both investigations.
The ethics report became the subject of fierce debate after President-elect Donald Trump announced the Florida Republican as his nominee for attorney general. Gaetz then abruptly resigned from the House, effectively ending the committee’s jurisdiction over him. As the controversy over the report has threatened to bubble over, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for the AG post.
Despite Gaetz dropping out of contention for attorney general, Democrats have continued to advocate for the report’s release, saying there is precedent for doing so after a lawmaker has resigned. House Republicans have so far unanimously resisted those calls.
