Sen. Dick Durbin's (Ill.) office will not “resign” from an ethics investigation into allegations of misconduct due to former Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) nomination as U.S. attorney. He said it shouldn't be possible. General under President-elect Trump.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) has told the House Ethics Committee about the potentially damaging three-year investigation into Gates amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors and illegal drug use. He asked them not to publish any sexually explicit reports.
Mr. Gates denied the allegations against him.
Since Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress, Gaetz's resignation effectively ends the investigation. Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to reporters in Parliament House on Friday and said the release of the report would “open a dangerous Pandora's box”.
Matt Gaetz faces Republican Senate opposition after Trump picks him as attorney general
Senate Judiciary Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general outside the Senate Judiciary Committee markup on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. Talk to reporters about the nomination. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Josh Sorbet, Durbin's press secretary, said the senator, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is pushing for the report to be made public.
“There is long-standing precedent in both the House and the Senate of releasing ethics investigation materials after a member has resigned,” Sorbet said. “As a former member of Congress, there is no way he can waive an ethics investigation into allegations of serious misconduct, especially if he is nominated to be our nation's highest law enforcement official.
Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress due to Trump's appointment as attorney general, Johnson says
“There is bipartisan support for the Senate Judiciary Committee to have access to this information,” he added. “Chairman Durbin will continue to pursue this matter so that the members of the committee can fulfill their constitutional duty to advise and consent on this highly problematic candidate.”
After news broke Wednesday that Gaetz had been selected to join Trump's Cabinet. House Ethics Committee The chairman, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), told reporters that the investigation would end if Gaetz resigns from Congress.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, Center. Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida; Republican Debbie Lesko and Debbie Lesko of Arizona address the media after the House Judiciary Committee passed two articles of impeachment against President Trump on December 13, 2019. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
On Friday, Prime Minister Johnson said in response to a question from Fox News that he had no intention of contacting or speaking to the Ethics Commission to prevent its report from being released.
“I don't know anything about the investigation. The Speaker of the House is not involved in any of that,” Johnson said. “I am currently responding to media reports that a report on the former member of Congress was due to be released in some draft stage.”
He added that he did not believe it was “appropriate” to release the report.
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“It's not according to our rules and traditions, but there's a reason for that,” Johnson said. “That would open up Pandora's box, and I don't think that's healthy for the facility. So that's my position.”
Gaetz's nomination has drawn criticism from some who consider the allegations against him. Some Senate Republicans say he faces an uphill battle to be confirmed.
