Senators are eager to obtain a secret ethics report into the alleged drug use and sexual misconduct of Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General Matt Gaetz.
Gaetz had been the subject of an investigation by the House of Representatives Ethics Committee ended on Wednesday after his abrupt resignation at Congressa day after Trump shockingly nominated him as the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
His departure comes after allegations resurfaced Thursday about a woman who allegedly testified before the committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17.
The woman – now in her 20s – said Gaetz and her had sex when she was a minor in high school, while “representing herself as an adult,” sources close to ABC News told ABC News.
The FBI had investigated similar claims against Gaetz, but the DOJ chose not to charge him over claims that he sex trafficked a minor.
Trump’s choice of the embattled former congressman to oversee the Justice Department, FBI, DEA, ATF and related agencies has shocked Republicans and Democrats.
And the bomb claims could derail his hopes of taking over as attorney general.
Now senators who will vote on his nomination are demanding that the House of Representatives report be reviewed before the 42-year-old Florida man can join Trump’s Cabinet.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2024. He resigned his seat in the House of Representatives on Wednesday immediately after being nominated by Donald Trump as attorney general
Gaetz has long been one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in the House of Representatives
“The president’s role is to make the nomination, but we must fully vet the nominees, not only so we know the nominee is qualified, but also to protect the president,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Thursday.
He “absolutely” wants to review the House of Representatives Ethics Committee report on Gaetz’s conduct.
Cornyn even floated the idea of taking legal action to review the contents of the report.
“There are different ways we can access it, we can subpoena it,” he told reporters. “I don’t think any of us want to fly blind.”
Cornyn argued that the Senate plays a role in weeding out unqualified candidates during the nomination process, and that this protects the president from potential bad apples.
However, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., doesn’t think this will work, nor does he want it to happen.
When Graham was asked whether the Senate could subpoena an unreleased House ethics report, he replied, “I wouldn’t think so.”
Gaetz and his wife Ginger pose on the roof of the Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC
The South Carolinian also added that he would not want the House to be able to subpoena unreleased Senate reports.
Gaetz calls the investigation ‘frivolous’ and a smear campaign against him.
Rep. Michael Guest, R-Ala., the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, reiterated Thursday that he has no plans to release the report.
President Donald Trump takes a selfie with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in the House chamber after Trump’s State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 30, 2018.
Gaetz stood by Trump’s side during his legal hearings in New York earlier this year
Gaetz speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 17, 2024
‘What happens at Ethics is confidential. We are going to maintain that confidentiality,” he told reporters on Thursday.
There is also the possibility that committee members or employees could leak the document.
The top Democrat on the Ethics panel, Glenn Ivey, D-Md., told DailyMail.com that he had no knowledge of expected ethics leaks in Gaetz’s file. He said he could not recall any other instance where a committee report had been leaked.
On the other hand, Ivey noted that Gaetz has repeatedly accused the Ethics Commission of leaking information about their investigation, although he denied the accusations.
But that hasn’t stopped senators from calling to see the report.
Democratic Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin wrote Thursday: “I am calling on the House Ethics Committee to preserve and share with the House Judiciary Committee their report and all relevant documentation regarding Mr. Gaetz Senate.’
Later in the day, Durbin released a letter co-signed by 10 other Democrats demanding that the House Ethics Committee hand over their report.
They wrote that the timing regarding Gaetz’s sudden resignation appears suspicious.
“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House of Representatives raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee’s report and findings,” the Democrats wrote.
“We cannot allow this critical information from a bipartisan investigation into long-standing public allegations to remain hidden from the American people as it is directly relevant to whether Mr. Gaetz is qualified and fit to be the next Attorney General of the United States. States.’
When asked if he wanted to see the Gaetz report Thursday, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said he did.
“It’ll be a fine-tooth comb,” the Alabaman said of reviewing Gaetz’s file. “And they knew that going in.”
“It will be one of those nominations that will be closely scrutinized,” he added.
Still, Tuberville says he likes the former Florida lawmaker
“I’m a Matt Gaetz fan because I’ve known about him for a long time. He is smart, has been on the Judiciary (committee) for seven years, a very good lawyer, well spoken, believes in the Constitution and I think he would do a great job.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he absolutely wants to review Gaetz’s ethics report
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., told reporters he would like to take a “fine-toothed comb” to the Gaetz report
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., told DailyMail.com “I need to find out more about him in general… I’m sure whatever information I need to look at will come out.”
However, Trump has demanded that the Senate use “recess appointments” to confirm Cabinet nominees.
“Every Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we cannot get people confirmed in a timely manner,” Trump wrote on X Sunday.
This goes against the wishes of many Republican senators to hold hearings and vote for nominees.
“I’m fine with it, but I hope we don’t have to do it,” Tuberville said of Trump’s recess appointments. “I hope we can just do them ourselves and go through the same process.”
“Well, I think we should be able to go through the regular process,” Republican Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska told DailyMail.com.
U.S. Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, speaks to reporters on his way to a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on November 14, 2024
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told DailyMail.com, “I think it’s too early to say whether you need to take extraordinary measures to do that.”
‘I’m not against it, but there are all kinds of ins and outs about how to get there.’
Paul, who will become chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in January, noted that he plans to hold hearings for nominees under his purview.
This means that South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whom Trump nominated to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will have to appear before Paul’s panel before being confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet.
“My plan is to hold hearings for those I am in charge of at the earliest possible date,” he revealed.