The House Ethics Committee ended a two-hour long meeting Wednesday handing a victory, at least for the moment, to Matt Gaetz.
Sharks on both sides of the aisle are circling Donald Trump’s sex scandal-plagued choice to lead the Department of Justice.
And speculation intensified that an ethics report baring the tawdry details of a nearly three-year long investigation would be leaked after its chairman announced the findings would be revealed.
Members of the bipartisan House Ethics Committee emerged from their closed-door marathon meeting tight-lipped amid a swarm of reporters who had waited breathlessly to see nuggets of the Gaetz report, which is looking at whether he paid for sex and allegations of trafficking minors.
Democrats were particularly eager to have the report released, as Republicans loyal to Trump sought to block it.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin on Wednesday asked the FBI to provide all evidentiary records from its defunct investigation of the former Florida GOP lawmaker’s alleged sex trafficking of minors.
“The grave public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government,” Durbin said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The unanswered questions regarding Mr. Gaetz’s alleged conduct are particularly significant given that his associate, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to the sex trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also investigated.” .
The Justice Department ended its investigation of Gaetz last year without bringing charges, and the former Florida lawmaker has denied all wrongdoing. But the House Ethics Committee has been investigating the matter on and off for nearly three years.
Members of the House panel huddled behind closed doors—with a media zoo waiting outside—for over an hour and half Wednesday deliberating whether to release publicly any of its findings from a litany of private tawdry testimony.
Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee—which is the first serious hurdle Gaetz must clear if he has any chance of being confirmed as the next attorney general—agreed that a hearing is warranted. Sen. John Cornyn, the top Republican on the panel, told reporters GOP senators will do their “investigations and research” but give Gaetz a fair shot at explaining himself.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a staunch Trump loyalist, was more defensive of Gaetz.
He said Gaetz—the man responsible for toppling former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, plunging Congress into chaos and legislative paralysis—shouldn’t be disqualified over allegations he paid women for sex, used illicit drugs and had sex with a 17-year-old girl.
“I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true,” Graham said. “I have seen this movie before.”
Vice president-elect JD Vance shepherded Gaetz around the Senate Wednesday, meeting with Graham and other key members of the Judiciary Committee whose support the former Florida lawmaker will need. He must be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in order to get a Senate floor vote in January, when Republicans will hold a slim 53-seat majority—and four or more defections could be fatal.
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