Top Democrat on House Ethics panel says Gaetz report should be released

Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, said she thinks the panel’s report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) should be released.

Wild answered “yes” when asked whether the panel should release its report on Gaetz, who President-elect Trump nominated to be attorney general last week.

“We have a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, and it remains to be seen what the chairman's agenda is for that, but I believe we should vote on whether we're to disclose it or not,” Wild said.

Wild, who is leaving Congress at the end of the year after being defeated by Republican challenger Ryan Mackenzie, said that she expected all Democrats to vote in favor of releasing the report. On the evenly split panel with five Republicans and five Democrats, it would take at least one Republican to side with Democrats to vote to release the report.

“Everybody on the committee now has the report, so they've got the opportunity to be reviewing it,” Wild said.

Asked about the possibility of releasing the report only to the Senate, Wild said: “Either you are going to disclose it or you're not going to disclose it.”

Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chair of the Ethics Committee, declined to confirm details about the meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

Guest did say that he has read the report on Gaetz, and that other members on the panel “have the ability to read the report.” He declined to offer his thoughts on what the Gaetz report said.

The Ethics Committee investigated Gaetz for years over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other claims. Gaetz, whom the Justice Department declined to charge after investigating the same matters, has vigorously denied wrongdoing.

Gaetz abruptly resigned from his seat the same day he was announced as Trump's attorney general pick. A source told The Hill that his resignation came just two days before the committee was scheduled to meet to vote to release the report, but that meeting was later canceled.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has publicly advocated against releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress and the committee traditionally does not investigate former members.

“I think that would be a Pandora's box. I don't think we want the House Ethics Committee using all of its vast resources and powers to go after private citizens,” Johnson said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

While such a move is very rare, there is precedent for the committee releasing a report after a member resigned. In 1987, the committee released its report on former Rep. William Boner (D-Tenn.) after he resigned from the House.

Senators on both sides of the aisle have said they want to see the report.