Former Rep. Matt Gaetz is likely to face an uphill battle in his confirmation hearings to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, as several prominent senators from both parties are demanding the release of the congressman's ethics report, the Washington Examiner reported.
Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday immediately following his nomination.
The House Ethics Committee had been investigating allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, a probe that ended Wednesday with Gaetz's resignation from the House.
In June, the committee gave an unusual public update on its review, which it said also included whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.
The committee announced that it was no longer reviewing four other allegations involving the congressman, including that he shared inappropriate images or videos with colleagues on the House floor or that he accepted a bribe or converted campaign funds to personal use.
Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations, which he has blamed on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a longtime nemesis, though the probe began before McCarthy and Republicans took the majority in the House.
In 2023, the Justice Department ended a sex trafficking investigation with no charges against Gaetz.
Senate Judiciary Committee member John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, "I think there should not be any limitations on the Judiciary Committee's investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee generated." The Senate Judiciary Committee is charged with holding Gaetz's confirmation hearing.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, was instantly suspicious of Gaetz's resignation, suggesting that the timing "raised questions."
"We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people," he said.
Trump's choice of Gaetz has thrown many in Washington for a loop, as some assumed the president-elect would go for a safer choice such as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
In a statement announcing his pick, Trump said, "Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans' badly shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department."
John Thune, R-S.D., who will be Senate majority leader, is likely to have his loyalty to Trump and the America First agenda tested with the Gaetz pick. When pressed by reporters how he would handle a nominee such as Gaetz, Thune deferred to the process.
"I don't know until we start the process with him and all the other potential nominees," Thune told reporters.
"None of this stuff is formal yet. But when it is, we expect our committees do their jobs and provide the advice and consent that is required under the Constitution."
John Clune, the attorney representing the then-teenager at the heart of the investigation called for the House to release their findings.
"Mr. Gaetz's likely nomination as Attorney General is a perverse development in a truly dark series of events. We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report. She was a high school student and there were witnesses," Clune posted on X.
At least one senator sees Trump's pick as a master class in disrupting the status quo.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told an NBC reporter on Wednesday, "I mean, I would describe it as god-tier-level trolling that has triggered a full-on China Syndrome to own the libs in perpetuity."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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