Early last year, Rep. Matt Gaetz learned that the Justice Department, which had investigated him in a sex trafficking probe, would not file criminal charges against the Florida Republican. That, of course, was the good news for the far-right Republican congressman.
The bad news for Gaetz, however, was that he still faced a House Ethics Committee investigation. As Politico reported, the Floridian even suggested this week that he now faces a “new” ethics investigation.
“This is Soviet,” Gaetz added, without going into details.
Without more information, it is difficult to assess these “new studies” that the Republican referred to. Not only are we in the dark about the underlying studies, we have not even received confirmation from the committee itself as to whether these studies even exist.
But if Gaetz is telling the truth, these “new studies” suggest that things have gone from bad to worse for the incumbent lawmaker.
Longtime readers may recall that the Ethics Commission launched an investigation into Gaetz two years ago, although ABC News reported earlier this year that the panel was still investigating possible lobbying violations, as well as details surrounding the sex trafficking investigation.
As my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted shortly thereafter, Gaetz responded to the developments by lashing out at the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi.
It is difficult to speculate about what, if anything, the panel will conclude, but for Gaetz’s critics on Capitol Hill – of which there are many – the Ethics Commission’s investigation is of great importance.
Last fall, Fox News raised some eyebrows with a report stating that members of the Republican Party were “preparing a motion to expel Gaetz.” The report contained no official commentary, and it was not independently verified by other news organizations, but it raised the prospect of provocative action against a member with a limited number of friends, even on his side of the party. the aisle.
Two months later, USA Today published a related report, adding that Gaetz “continues to draw the ire of his Republican colleagues… and that some of his opponents have privately expelled him from Congress.”
All things considered—the number of months remaining before the election, the vanishingly small advantage House Republicans enjoy in the House, etc.—it’s hard to imagine House Republicans willingly would opt to reduce their ranks again, but the bull’s-eye served as a timely reminder that the Gaetz investigation is one of the most closely watched processes on Capitol Hill. If the congressman’s online mission is correct, that investigation will intensify.
This message updates our related previous reporting.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
