Rep. Guest: Speaker Won't Influence Gaetz Ethics Report

Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., chair of the House Ethics Committee, said Monday that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won't influence the outcome of releasing the ethics report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who resigned his seat after taking up President-elect Donald Trump's offer to head the Department of Justice.

Deliberation on releasing the report comes amid Johnson calling it "a terrible breach of protocol and tradition and the spirit of the rule" because Gaetz is no longer a House member, per The Hill.

According to Politico, Johnson has said he has no authority over the Ethics Committee and is "not telling the Ethics Committee what to do."

"It is not my place to do so," he added. "I've been very clear. I'm merely responding to the questions that every single media outlet in America is asking me."

Meanwhile, Guest told Politico he does not see Johnson as having an impact on the report's outcome.

On Monday, ABC News reported that a lawyer told the outlet that two of his clients testified before the Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex. Both Republicans and Democrats have called for the report to be released to the senators weighing in on Trump's nominee.

The Ethics Committee pushed back a meeting on the report last week and will reconvene on Wednesday. Notably, Guest said the report was not available to all members of his committee.

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