Washington (AP)Even though Matt Gaetz is no longer with the House of Representatives, his former coworkers are still working with him.
Despite the Florida Republican’s departure from Congress and withdrawal as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, lawmakers are expected to make a decision on Thursday regarding the long-awaited House ethics report into sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz. Gaetz refutes the claims.
In the afternoon, the bipartisan committee was scheduled to vote on whether to release the results of its multi-year investigation. Democrats are prepared to compel votes on the House floor to require the committee to release the entire report if they choose not to make that disclosure.
It is the result of weeks of pressure on the five Republicans and five Democrats who make up the committee, which primarily operates in secret while looking into claims of wrongdoing by members.
When Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress last month following Trump’s statement that he wanted his pal in the Cabinet, the investigation’s fate became unclear. Although the committee usually concludes investigations when members of Congress leave, Gaetz’s situation was unique because of his possible involvement in the next administration.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., stated on Wednesday that because Gaetz resigned as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department and departed Congress, there is no longer the same urgency to disclose the report. The guest stated that he would not vote to release the report to the public.
I haven’t wavered on it. He isn’t a member anymore. Guest stated that because he retracted his nomination to be the attorney general, the Senate will no longer confirm him. However, I only have one vote out of ten. The rest of the committee is not under my authority. There are nine other members who can continue to contribute to this discussion.
Gaetz has denied any misconduct and stated last year that he was not charged with any federal crimes as a result of the Justice Department’s separate investigation into claims of sex trafficking involving minors.
His former political ally As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors in 2021, fellow Republican Joel Greenberg, the tax collector for Seminole County, Florida, acknowledged paying women and a minor girl to have sex with him and other men. When he entered a guilty plea, court filings did not name the males.In late 2022, Greenberg received an 11-year prison sentence.
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