Gaetz-gate: Unraveling the President-elect's most perplexing Cabinet appointment

As Trump's pick for Attorney General, Gaetz may not be done with Congress yet.

After speaking to House Republicans in Washington last week, Mr. Trump selected Gaetz to become Attorney General on a flight to Florida, and the Florida Republican resigned.

The House Ethics Committee was on the verge of releasing a report investigating allegations of "sexual misconduct" and "illicit drug use" by Gaetz. Despite this, Gaetz stopped cooperating with the House investigation over the summer. The FBI had been investigating Gaetz for years, but dropped its inquiry in February.

The Ethics Committee was planning to release information about its investigation into Gaetz on Friday, but since he is no longer a member of Congress, the committee is reportedly unable to act.

On Wednesday, House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., stated that he had not yet received any evidence to support the allegations against Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., before the latter resigned.

If Mr. Gaetz resigns from Congress to take a position as Attorney General, the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction and a report will not be issued. This is not unique to this case, said Guest.

Other Ethics Committee members tried to sidestep discussion of Gaetz.

Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., stated that he would not make any comments on the matter as he is a member of the Ethics Committee and therefore must maintain neutrality.

"May I still release the report?" inquired Rachel Scott of ABC.

Rutherford turned to Scott and said, "No way. Not a chance."

The House Ethics Committee typically handles ongoing investigations into former Members in a similar manner.

But it is not a hard and fast rule.

The Ethics Committee released information on its investigation into potential influence peddling by the late Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., following his death in 2010.

A 699-page report on former Rep. Bill Boner, D-Tenn., was released by the Ethics Committee after he left office in 1987. The committee discovered that Boner may have used campaign funds to travel to Hong Kong and possibly used his office to influence a defense contractor.

The Ethics Committee probed former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., who resigned from the House after being caught sending inappropriate messages to House pages in 2006. However, the ethics panel also summoned several bipartisan Congressional leaders for private interviews to assess their knowledge of Foley's activities.

An Ethics Committee report can be dislodged from the floor.

The House has a mechanism known as the "question of privileges of the House," which allows a lawmaker to argue that keeping the Gaetz ethics report confidential undermines the dignity and integrity of the House. If the motion is successful, the ethics committee may be forced to release the report.

Did you ask House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., if Democrats could attempt to remove the Gaetz report from the Ethics Committee?

Could you imagine a situation where Democrats attempt to remove this ethics report through a parliamentary maneuver?

The Ethics Committee is a bipartisan committee with a history of having principled individuals on it. I defer to their decision and hope it is bipartisan.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will examine Gaetz's qualifications, conduct background checks, and potentially hold a confirmation hearing before voting on his nomination to the floor for a vote. Additionally, they have the power to reject his nomination.

Dick Durbin, the Senate Majority Whip and Judiciary Committee Chairman, formally requested the House Ethics Committee to provide the report on Gaetz's fitness for his job.

"Durbin stated that the sequence and timing of Gaetz's resignation from the House raise serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report. This information could be relevant to the question of Gaetz's confirmation as the next Attorney General of the United States and our Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent."

Democrats weren’t the only ones trying to pry loose the report.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, believes that the Senate Judiciary Committee should not have any restrictions on its investigation, regardless of what the House Ethics Committee has produced.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., suggested that the Ethics Committee should send the report to the Senate.

"Ivey stated that the Senate had the right to request the information, but he couldn't discuss internal deliberations. However, he believed the requested information was reasonable and essential for the Senate to make a decision."

On Friday, Johnson stated that he has no control over the Ethics Committee.

Johnson expressed more detailed opinions on releasing the report than he had previously.

Johnson stated that adhering to the tradition of not publishing a report on a former House member is necessary to prevent an unsafe Pandora's box from being opened.

During an appearance on Planet Chronicle Sunday, Johnson reaffirmed that he has no plans to release the report.

The Speaker stated that this action could be hazardous for us in the future, as it may violate protocol.

The Senate Judiciary Committee may subpoena the Ethics Committee's report, and a vote on the House floor could dislodge it. This could put many Republicans in a difficult position, as they may fear that voting to release the report could put them at odds with President Trump and the potential Attorney General.

Despite being a Republican, Gaetz is not well-liked by his former House colleagues. In fact, some Republicans may have more disdain for him than Democrats. This is partly due to Gaetz's actions last year, which led to a vote to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. This move caused three weeks of chaos in the House.

The fight over the ethics report is causing just as much pandemonium as if Gaetz were still a Member of the House.