The House speaker said he will “strongly request” that a House Ethics Committee report on the AG nominee remain unreleased.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is coming to the rescue of former Representative Matt Gaetz over an ethics report that could derail his nomination as the next U.S. attorney general.
Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday, shortly after President-elect Donald Trump announced that he had been chosen as his attorney general. Trump’s nomination immediately brought a backlash, with some legal experts and lawmakers arguing that Gaetz was “unqualified” and could face an uphill battle getting the Senate to confirm him.
The pick was also controversial because Gaetz, a Republican, is the subject of a bipartisan investigation by the House Ethics Committee over alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. His resignation scuttled plans for the release of a report revealing the results of the investigation, which was expected to be made public as soon as Friday.
Pressure has been mounting on the committee to release the report regardless of Gaetz’s resignation, with proponents arguing that it could contain information vital in determining whether he should be confirmed as attorney general.
