 "Will it be a report, media leak or Senate? Trump’s AG pick Matt Gaetz may not be out of woods yet")
The House of Representatives’ Ethics Committee’s investigation into Matt Gaetz has ended, but his troubles may not end just now.
A day after US President-elect Donald Trump picked him as the Attorney General in his incoming administration, Gaetz resigned as the member of the House.
Gaetz was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and drug use. The investigation came to an end with the resignation.
The committee was scheduled to hold a vote on Friday about the release of the investigation report, according to The New York Times.
Gaetz is one of the most detested members of House — even among his own Republican colleagues. He is among the most extremist Republican members who have been staunchest champions of Trump in recent years.
As both Republicans and Democrats are repulsed at Gaetz’ nomination for the critical job of Attorney General, there are expectation that the road to his appointment may be bumpy and may include leaks of his purported misdeeds to media, explosive Congressional investigation reports, or a fiery Senate hearing.
From Sex trafficking to corruption — allegations against Gaetz
In two years, Matt Gaetz has been subjected to two sets of investigations for sex trafficking and corruption.
In the first case, the Department of Justice (DoJ) investigated the allegation that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, a child, and possibly violated federal sex-trafficking laws, according to The Times.
Last year, the DoJ closed the case without filing any charges.
While no charges were pressed against Gaetz, his close associate Joel Greenberg was sentenced to 11 years in jail for sex trafficking.
In the second case, the Ethics Committee opened an investigation in 2021 related to allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
The committee was investigating claims about Gaetz misusing state identification records, converting campaign funds to personal use, accepting impermissible gifts under House rules, and sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, among others, according to the newspaper.
In the latest development related to the House investigation, the ABC News has reported that the woman at the centre of the sexual crimes allegations told the House committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17-years-old — a child.
Moreover, sources told ABC that the committee has a sworn written statement from one of Gaetz’s ex-girlfriends that he attended a party in 2017 where drugs were present and it was also attended by the female with whom Gaetz had sex when she was a child.
Bipartisan outrage threatens Senate confirmation
Gaetz has repulsed Congress members so much that there is rare bipartisan outrage — even from amongst Republicans.
Before Gaetz’s resignation was announced, Republican Representative Max Miller had said that the party would consider expelling him like George Santos if Senate hearings unearthed new and convincing evidence into the allegations against him, according to The Times.
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said on Thursday that the Senate “should gain access to all relevant information by whatever means necessary”, including a possible subpoena of the ethics report, according to NPR.
“I don’t think any of us want to fly blind. Part of this is to protect the president against information or surprises coming out later that he and his team weren’t aware of,” said Cornyn.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said that Gaetz’s nomination “will be one of those that will be well-scrutinized”, as per NPR.
“It’ll be a fine-tooth comb, and they knew that going in,” said Tuberville.
The Washington Post has reported that that the House committee may release the report into investigation against Gaetz as early as Friday.
If the report has some damning details, as media outlets have reported so far, then the road ahead for Gaetz may be bumpy.
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