U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) listens to testimony during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary titled “Undue Influence: Supreme Court Operations and Politicking at SCOTUS,” considering allegations that former anti-abortion leader Reverend Robert Schenck received news of the outcome in advance an important 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case on contraceptives, written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 8 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
On Monday, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee published the final report in connection with a multi-year investigation into allegations made against a former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz involved in sexual harassment and illicit drug use.
Hours before the long-awaited report was released, Gaetz asked a federal judge for a ruling temporary restraining order this would block its release.
The ethics panel's report, the final product of an investigation launched in 2021, has been at the center of a recent firestorm of controversy surrounding a former Florida lawmaker.
Gaetz, 42, resigned from Congress in mid-November, shortly after the president-elect was elected. Donald Trump elected him as U.S. Attorney General. Trump's choice to head the Justice Department immediately sparked protests from critics, who were quick to point out that if confirmed, Gaetz would head the agency that previously investigated him on sex trafficking allegations.
The Department of Justice concluded this investigation without filing criminal charges. However, the Ethics Committee, which had suspended its own efforts until the Justice Department's version became final, again authorized the investigation in May 2023.
When Gaetz left Congress, Republicans, including Ethics Chairman Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said he was no longer under the committee's jurisdiction, expressing doubts about whether its report would be made public.
The news reported at the time of Gaetz's departure, just two days before the ethics panel was scheduled to vote to release the report. The panel, divided evenly between Democrats and Republicans, stuck on whether to release the report even though Gaetz is no longer a congressman.
But w secret ballot in early December, the committee decided that the report should be published.
Gaetz withdrew his candidacy for attorney general just eight days after Trump's election, saying he was “unfairly distracting” from the Republican president-elect's transition efforts. He denied any abuse.
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