Republican senator asks House to share Matt Gaetz’s character report By Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin urged the House of Representatives on Sunday to share an unreleased ethics report on allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl by Matt Gaetz, President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general.
Gaetz, 42, resigned from the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday, hours after Trump announced his choice for the congressman and two days before the House Ethics Committee released its report, which also looked into allegations of illegal drug use. Gaetz denies any wrongdoing.
Mullin told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Senate, which has the authority to confirm or reject Trump’s nominations, needs to see the report.
“The Senate should get to that,” Mullin said. “Should it be released to the public or not? I think that will be part of the discussion.”
Gaetz is one of a series of Cabinet nominees named by Trump last week who lack the resumes typically seen in candidates for high-level administration jobs. He would need to be confirmed by the Senate – where Trump’s Republicans would have a majority of at least 52 of the 100 seats – to get the post. A few expressed reservations about the choice.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that the ethics committee should not release its report. He stood by that on Sunday.
“The Speaker does not have the authority to stop the release of the ethics committee’s report, but I just said what I believe is an obvious point, that we don’t want to go down that path,” said Johnson. on CNN.
Mullin has described Gaetz as unprincipled, and on Sunday said “Matt Gaetz’s background matters.”
But he said he had not yet decided whether to vote for him or against Gaetz.
“I’ll give him a fair shot like everybody else,” Mullin said.
The Justice Department investigated Gaetz for nearly three years for alleged sex trafficking involving a young man. Gaetz’s office said in 2023 he was told by prosecutors that he would not face criminal charges.
On Thursday, the girl’s lawyer requested that the report be released to the public.
Mullin also seemed open to the idea of letting Trump bypass the Senate entirely as a “last resort” if lawmakers somehow balked. The strategy, called a recess appointment, allows the president to curtail the executive branch’s power to block political appointees. Trump has publicly asked Republican lawmakers to give him that power, a move that will give him incredible power to appoint anyone he wants.
Senate Democrats expressed widespread opposition to Gaetz’s nomination.
“The Senate has a constitutional role,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons said on Fox News. “It’s called our advice and consent role to make sure the president-elect gets his choice … but he can’t put in people who don’t have the qualifications or the necessary character and skills to lead an incredibly important agency. The Department of Justice.”
