The House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-MS) said over the weekend that it is likely to release its report on the investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), which could potentially throw a monkey wrench into his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to be Attorney General.
Gaetz stepped down from the House as soon as Trump nominated him, meaning that technically, he is no longer under the purview of the committee.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) opposed releasing the report and personally conveyed this sentiment to Guest over the weekend, to no avail.
“I appreciate Mike reaching out,” Guest told Politico. “I don’t see it having an impact on what we as a committee ultimately decide.”
A decision on whether to release the report will happen Wednesday when the committee meets.
The investigation involved in part whether Gaetz paid women for sex, and paid for them to travel across state lines for sex. One of the women allegedly involved said she was 17 at the time of some of the encounters.
The Justice Department investigated the allegations for several years and declined to press any charges against him.
The Trump transition team spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer said of the allegations against Gaetz,
Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He's the right man for the job and will end the weaponization of our justice system. These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration. The Biden Justice Department investigated Gaetz for years and cleared him of wrongdoing.
At this year's CPAC convention, Gaetz was vocal about the need to stop members of Congress including Guest, from trading individual stocks.
"For the same reason you don’t let the umpire bet on the game, members of congress should not be allowed to trade individual stocks,” he said. “How about the Ethics Committee take up those reforms?"
“He has become a brilliant stock trader while in office, and I admire the obvious genius,” Gaetz said of Guest. “He knew exactly the right time to buy online gambling stocks. His purchase in Evolution Gaming Securities netted him a hefty 36 percent gain — not too shabby. Now, I’m not saying this is insider trading, but this monetary affair is perhaps the most suspicious I’ve seen since Fani Willis and Nathan Wade."
Gaetz posted on X in February about the ethics probe, “Word is, I now have problems with the Ethics Committee — which seems really odd to me because I’m the one screaming loudest for actual ethics reforms.”
“Word is, I now have problems with the Ethics Committee — which seems really odd to me because I’m the one screaming loudest for actual ethics reforms.”
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) at CPAC rails against House Ethics probe into him and the panel’s chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) pic.twitter.com/XHRwJPyPnw
— The Recount (@therecount) February 23, 2024
It's possible that Gaetz is the only Republican congressman not to take money from PACs, for whatever that's worth.
