The House Ethics Committee, which has been conducting an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and obstruction against Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, has scheduled a vote Friday on whether to release the report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee’s work .
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominate Gaetz appointed attorney general, Gaetz has resigned his seat in Congress, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter obtained by CBS News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters there was approximately an eight-week window in which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting the date for a special election.
News of the planned vote was first reported by Punchbowl.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
However, there is precedent in Congress on the Senate side for an ethics committee report to become public after a member resigns from Congress. In 2011, this happened when Senator John Ensign of Nevada resigned amid allegations that he was trying to cover up an extramarital affair.
But it is not clear that that would apply to the House of Representatives, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz will not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee released a statement saying it was investigating a range of allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and bribery.
Multiple sources told CBS News at the time four women had informed the House Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz was also present. The committee has Gaetz’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called the commission’s investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the sexual misconduct allegations being investigated by the committee were also the subject of a previous Justice Department investigation into Gaetz. Federal investigators attempted to determine whether Gaetz committed sex trafficking and obstruction of justice violations, but… no charges have been filed.
The House Ethics Committee resumed its investigation of Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department’s decision not to file charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the investigation. And Gaets later led the movement to remove McCarthy as speaker.
