GOP senator says Gaetz investigation report can be subpoenaed after Johnson tries to block

David Badash
15 November 2024

A Republican Senator is pushing back after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced his opposition to the Ethics Committee releasing the report on its years-long investigation into Matt Gaetz, who resigned abruptly from Congress Wednesday in what appears to be an attempt to block the report's publication. Gaetz's resignation came almost immediately after President-elect Donald Trump announced he would nominate the Florida Republican to become Attorney General, the nation's top law enforcement officer.

Friday afternoon, Speaker Johnson repeatedly stressed his opposition to the release of the report, claiming releasing it to the public "doesn't follow our rules and traditions," and doing so "would open a pandora’s box."

Johnson also told reporters, "I'm going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent to set."

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U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, Friday afternoon made clear the Senate has a constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and is required to examine all evidence it can during the confirmation process. Rounds, who also has served as governor of The Mount Rushmore State, told CNN's Manu Raju that if necessary they will subpoena the House Ethics Committee's report on Gaetz.

"I think Senator [John] Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, has indicated that very strongly that he believes that there may very well be a way to compel the release of that [report] through a subpoena. That committee and they do this all the time and it becomes very sensitive. We do have a process in place which includes the ability to get that type of information in many cases," Rounds said. "And what we want to do is make good decisions based upon all the relevant facts and information that we can get."

"We should be able to get a hold of it," Rounds added, referring to the report.

Rounds said that after the Senate has done its due diligence on a candidate, "we decide whether or not we think that the benefit of the doubt goes to the president or if there should be a change in perhaps more advice than consent, which occasionally does happen."

The House Ethics Committee had been investigating Gaetz for years over numerous allegations, including that he "may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct."

In June, the Committee announced it had encountered "difficulty in obtaining relevant information from Representative Gaetz and others," but had already spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents in this matter."

"Based on its review to date, the Committee has determined that certain of the allegations merit continued review. During the course of its investigation, the Committee has also identified additional allegations that merit review."

It is widely believed the Committee also investigated allegations Gaetz may have engaged in sex trafficking of a minor and sex with a minor.

Gaetz had been under investigation by the U.S. Dept. of Justice but no charges were ever brought.

Democrats and others are also expressing anger over Speaker Johnson's efforts to, as some have suggested, engage in a coverup.

"Unacceptable," decried U.S Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). "Matt Gaetz is under investigation for serious wrongdoing, including sex trafficking. Speaker Johnson joins the ranks of those willing to give him cover. The American people deserve to see this report."

Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison asked, "What about transparency? Let’s hear the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, about the results of the the Matt Gaetz ethics investigation. If he’s innocent, then fine. But let’s see it."

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The New York Times' Michael Barbaro wrote, "House Speaker says it would be a 'terrible precedent' for the government to release a tax-payer funded report into the ethics of a future Attorney General."

Podcaster Tommy Victor added, "Publicly demanding a cover up of a Republican-led ethics investigation into the Attorney General nominee doesn’t suggest much confidence that it will exonerate Gaetz."

CNN's Jim Sciutto compared Speaker Johnson's remarks on blocking the release of the report with those he made in 2023 when he released thousands of hours of footage from the January 6, 2021 insurrection:

"Look we want the American people to draw their own conclusions. I don't think partisan elected officials in Washington should present a narrative and expect that it should be seen as the ultimate truth on it when we know that they hid certain elements… We want transparency. We should demand it. The American people do. We trust - House Republicans trust the American people to draw their own conclusions.”

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