Fox News has been reporting for several days that the House Ethics Committee no longer has any jurisdiction over former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida).
Gaetz resigned Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him to be attorney general.
The ethics committee was scheduled to release a report investigating Gates' sexual misconduct and drug use allegations, but the committee canceled its meeting on Friday and the report has not been released.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Mississippi) said Wednesday when asked about the Gaetz investigation.
“A report will be released once the investigation is complete, assuming Mr. Gaetz is still a member of Congress at that time. If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because of his pro-administration positions, the attorney general would “At that point, the Ethics Commission would lose jurisdiction, and that's not unique to this case,” Guest said.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Ogles listen to former President Donald Trump speak to the media during his trial on charges of concealing hush money payments in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 16, 2024. Congressman (Republican, Tennessee). New York City. (Angela Weispool/Getty Images)
Ethics commissions have generally taken this approach with respect to unresolved ethics investigations involving former commissioners.
However, this is not a hard and fast rule.
Fox News revealed that after the late Rep. John Murtha (Pennsylvania) died in 2010, the Ethics Committee released an investigation into potential influence peddling by him.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) waves from the stage during the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 17, 2024. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The Ethics Committee also released a 699-page report on former Rep. Bob Bonner (D-Tenn.) after he resigned in 1987. The commission found that Mr. Bonner used campaign funds to travel to Hong Kong and may have used his position to gain influence. defense contractor.
That being said, there is a way to withdraw the Ethics Commission report on the floor.
There is a device called “the question of parliamentary privilege.'' Under this process, members could come to the floor and argue that keeping the Gaetz ethics report secret would undermine the dignity and integrity of the House. The House would need to vote on such a motion. If the floor debate is successful, the Ethics Commission could be forced to release its report.
President-elect Donald Trump (left) and former Congressman Matt Gaetz. (Getty)
You asked New York Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries a real question Friday morning about whether Democrats would try to remove the Gates report from the Ethics Committee.
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Pergram: “Can you imagine a scenario where Democrats somehow try to get rid of this ethics report through congressional maneuvering?”
Jeffries: “The Ethics Committee is an incredibly bipartisan committee. It's the only committee in Congress that has an even voice. And the Ethics Committee is made up of principled people. “And at this point, I'm going to follow whatever course they choose,” and I hope they take a bipartisan course. ”
