House Republicans on Thursday voted against releasing the House Ethics Committee report about former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s alleged child sex trafficking, protecting the Florida Republican whose nomination to be attorney general went up in flames thanks to his history of bad behavior.
All but one House Republican voted to table a resolution filed by Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten, which would have ordered the release of the report. Republicans argued that the report should be kept secret now that Gaetz is a former member and the House no longer has jurisdiction over him. However, Casten’s resolution included multiple instances of times the House Ethics Committee released findings on ethical lapses by former members of the chamber.
“Given the serious nature of the allegations against Representative Gaetz, a failure of the Committee on Ethics of the House of Representatives to publicly release its report on its investigation undermines the committee’s credibility and impedes the safety, dignity, and integrity of the legislative proceedings of the House,” the resolution stated.
Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee also met on Thursday and again punted on a decision on whether to release the Gaetz report, Politico reported.
At the same time that Republicans voted to protect Gaetz, other GOP lawmakers said the House will continue to spend taxpayer dollars to not only probe soon-to-be former first son Hunter Biden, but challenge his pardon in court.
“Our investigation must continue,” Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis of New York, who voted to keep Gaetz’s report under wraps, told Fox News.
It’s unclear why House Republicans believe it’s important to protect Gaetz but continue to probe Hunter Biden.
It could be because releasing the report into Gaetz’s behavior could doom Gaetz’s future in politics. Gaetz has teased a possible run for governor in Florida, which will be an open-seat race in 2026 as current GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis’ is term limited.
Still, why Republicans would want to help Gaetz is beyond us, as multiple GOP lawmakers have publicly trashed Gaetz for being a total scumbag.
Republican Rep. Max Miller of Ohio said that Gaetz is “literally worse than gum on the bottom of my shoe.”
“I’m looking at him as a member of Congress and the job that he has done here, and it has been abhorrent,” Miller told CNN in November, before Gaetz’s nomination flamed out. “I’m not the only one who thinks this way. I just say the quiet part out loud, and I wish other of my colleagues would have the same courage to do so.”
Despite his tough talk against Gaetz, Miller was one of the 206 House Republicans who voted against releasing the Gaetz report.
Go figure.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
