The House shut down Democrats' efforts Thursday to release the long-awaited ethics report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, pushing the fate of any resolution to the yearslong investigation of sexual misconduct allegations into further uncertainty. The nearly party-line votes came after Democrats had been pressing for the findings to be published even though the Florida Republican left Congress and withdrew as President-elect Trump's nominee for attorney general, the AP reports. While ethics reports have previously been released after a member's resignation, it is extremely rare.
Republicans have argued that any congressional probe into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent to set. Shortly before the votes took place, Democratic Rep. Sean Casten, who introduced one of the bills to force the release, said that if Republicans reject the effort, they will have "succeeded in sweeping credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug." Gaetz has repeatedly denied the accusations against him.
The report could still be released, per the Hill: The ethics panel said earlier Thursday that it's discussing the matter, though lawmakers only have a few weeks left before a new session of Congress begins. The panel's GOP chairman said the committee will meet again. It's the culmination of weeks of pressure on the committee's five Republicans and five Democrats, who mostly work in secret as they investigate allegations of misconduct against lawmakers, per the AP. The panel has been investigating the Gaetz case for about 3½ years.
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