Congressional committee to decide today whether or not to release report on Matt Gaetz

2024-11-20 20:51:15, Kosova & Bota CNA

Congressional committee to decide today whether or not to release report on Matt

The House Ethics Committee is meeting Wednesday to decide whether or not to release its investigative report into former lawmaker Matt Gaetz, accused of sexual abuse and drug use before being appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to the position of the general prosecutor.

Some Democratic and Republican senators are asking for the report to be published, while they will decide on its confirmation in the Senate.

Last Wednesday, Mr. Trump nominated 42-year-old Matt Gaetz, a Republican lawmaker from Florida for eight years, to be the nation's top law enforcement official (equivalent to attorney general).

A few hours later, Mr. Gaetz resigned from Congress even though he had just been re-elected to a fifth term.

His resignation ended the investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which was nearing completion.

After that, it remained unclear whether the commission will make the findings public.

The commission, with 10 members, five Democrats and five Republicans, had been investigating allegations that Mr. Gaetz had had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and had used illegal drugs.

Mr. Gaetz has denied the allegations.

The Department of Justice investigated the case, but decided last year not to press charges against him.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who leads the narrow Republican majority in the chamber, says the report should not be made public because Mr. Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress. However, there have been cases in the past when this has happened.

Mr. Johnson told CNN on Sunday that senators considering Mr. Gaetz's nomination for attorney general "will conduct a thorough review and vetting process" and that they did not need to see the report.

But some senators have suggested they may make a formal request to obtain the report if it is not voluntarily provided to them.

Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin told NBC on Sunday that the committee should share the report with the Senate.

" The Senate should have access to the report ," said Mr. Mullin.

" Should it be published or not, I think this should be part of the negotiations ," he said.

Mr. Gaetz is one of several of Mr. Trump's Cabinet appointees who lacks the experience typically required to select candidates for senior government positions.

Another appointment that has sparked debate is that of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a journalist and Fox News television host.

His lawyer said that several years ago Mr. Hegseth had paid an undisclosed amount to a woman who accused him of sexual abuse in 2017.

The payment was made to avoid publicizing a groundless lawsuit, according to Mr. Hegseth.

Mr Trump has stood by the names he has chosen for his cabinet, refusing to withdraw their appointments. But controversies surrounding Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Hegseth and several others could jeopardize their Senate confirmations.

The president-elect has also sought, but with little success so far, to appoint members of his cabinet while the senators are on vacation, which would avoid time-consuming confirmation hearings./ VOA