By Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., leaves the House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The House Ethics Committee will meet Wednesday to discuss its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next attorney general, NBC News reported Monday.
Several key Republican senators want the report on Gaetz released to the Senate for their consideration on whether to confirm him for the AG post, if and when Trump formally nominates him.
The Ethics Committee had been investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and potential illegal drug use, and other actions. The panel had been scheduled to meet last Friday on the report but postponed that session.
Gaetz, who represented a Florida congressional district, resigned abruptly from the House last week after Trump said he would nominate him for AG. His resignation ended the Ethics panel’s jurisdiction over him.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. has said he would “strongly request” that the committee not release its report on Gaetz, arguing that doing so would be “a terrible breach of protocol, tradition and spirit of the rule.”
If Gaetz is confirmed as attorney general, he would lead the Department of Justice, which previously investigated him for possible sex trafficking of an underage girl. The DOJ did not file criminal charges against Gaetz in that case, and he has denied any wrongdoing.
On Thursday, a lawyer who represents a woman who says she had sex with Gaetz when she was underage called for the Ethics report to be released.
— NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin contributed to this report.
