The House Ethics Committee does not agree to release Matt Gaetz’s highly anticipated report after the investigation

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan House committee has not agreed to release a highly anticipated report on allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, WHO President-elect Donald Trump chose as the next attorney general.

The decision was at the center of a heated debate over the candidacy of Gaetz, who faces a steep climb in the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson asked the committee not to release the report, while several Republican senators who will vote on his confirmation insisted they should have access to it.

The ethics committee of the House had been conducting an investigation on allegations that Gaetz used illegal drugs, engaged in sexual misconduct, misused campaign funds, or accepted bribes and gifts.

The Justice Department — which Gaetz would lead if he were to become attorney general — was investigating similar allegations that Gaetz committed statutory rape by paying for sex with a 17-year-old girl and for her to travel across state lines with him. The investigation was dropped without the Justice Department filing charges against Gaetz.

A lawyer for two women said his clients testified before the House Ethics Committee about the allegations. One said she saw Gaetz under the influence of drugs and sexually abusing a 17-year-old, though she said she did not believe Gaetz knew the girl’s age. Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Gaetz abruptly resigned from his position in Parliament last Wednesday, just days before the panel planned to release its report on its findings.

The secret committee has no jurisdiction over former MPs and usually does not release information about investigations if the subject is no longer in office, although there have been exceptions.

However, Democrats on the committee said the report contains information senators should be aware of when considering Gaetz’s nomination. Republicans on the ethics panel have been largely silent on where it stands, but Johnson said last week that he would “strong request” keep it private.

Because all the Democrats on the panel were aligned in releasing him, and it only took one Republican member to join them to tip the balance. The panel is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats to remain neutral, compared to most committees that still have at least one member of the majority party.

Gaetz has been Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominee to date. He has a hard way pending confirmation in the Senate, which will be controlled by Republicans 53-47 next year. More than four Republican senators have expressed concern about his candidacy, and many more have done so privately. If more than four of those GOP lawmakers vote against his nomination, he will not be confirmed as attorney general.

Vice President-elect JD Vance is driving Gaetz around the Senate this week to meet with members of the Judiciary Committee, which will be tasked with vetting his nomination before a full Senate vote. Gaetz personally called the senators to ask for confirmation.

Some of Trump’s aides have also suggested that his appointees bypass traditional FBI background checks in favor of private investigators, which many Republican senators have opposed. On Wednesday, the FBI provided the full evidence file on Gaetz as it considers the nominee. In a letter to the FBI, Durbin wrote that the Senate is responsible for providing advice and consent on presidential cabinet picks, and “it is essential that we review all information necessary to fulfill that duty.” “The serious public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government,” he wrote. “The unanswered questions about Mr. Gaetz’s alleged conduct are particularly significant given that his associate, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to the sex-trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also investigated.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matt Gaetz: Ethics committee not releasing report on Trump nomination