House Ethics chair dismisses Johnson’s request to keep Gaetz report under wrap

Ethics Chair Michael Guest has dismissed House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) request for the House Ethics Committee to keep its report Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) private, Politico reports.

Per the report, the speaker "told reporters Friday he planned to reach out to Guest, and publicly urged the Ethics Committee to not release its report," arguing "that the Ethics Committee should follow typical precedent, which is not releasing reports about members who are no longer in the House."

On Monday, Guest told Politico, "We did talk this weekend. I appreciate Mike reaching out."

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However, he added, "I don't see it having an impact on what we as a committee ultimately decide."

Politico reports:

Both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are pushing for access to the panel's findings after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Gaetz to be his attorney general last week. Gaetz resigned from the House hours after the announcement — amid rumors that the Ethics report could be released in the coming days — complicating the decision to publish the findings of the investigation.

The news outlet notes that when a reporter told Johnson that the committee has published its findings on Gaetz in the past, the Louisiana lawmaker "said if the precedent had 'been broken once or twice, it should not have been.'"

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