Home Republicans have been profitable on Thursday of their effort to kill a Democratic effort to launch the Ethics Committee report on its investigation of former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.
The Home voted 206-198 to refer Democratic Rep. Sean Casten’s decision — which sought to make the Gaetz report public — again to the Ethics Committee, which voted two weeks in the past towards releasing the report.
Casten‘s privileged decision tried to drive the Ethics Committee to launch its report. Casten launched an up to date model of his decision on Tuesday which included a number of examples of the committee releasing stories on former members of Congress. Republicans had used Gaetz’s resignation from the Home as grounds for combating its launch.
One other from Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen that sought to make the report public and protect all paperwork associated to the investigation was additionally referred to the Ethics Committee on a 204-198 vote.
After the vote, Casten mentioned in a press release that Republicans “took the simple manner out.
“They might have ensured a vote on whether or not or not former Members ought to be held accountable after they face severe and credible allegations of sexual misconduct, together with having intercourse with minors. As an alternative, the Home voted to brush these allegations below the rug and set an unlucky precedent that, in case you are ever going through scrutiny, resigning from Congress could make your issues go away,” he mentioned.
The committee met on the report for 2 hours Thursday afternoon earlier than the vote, however members would not disclose what was mentioned. An announcement from the committee after the assembly mentioned it’s “persevering with to debate the matter.”
It will taken solely a handful of Republicans to cross occasion strains and vote with Democrats to defeat the measure to ship the resolutions to the committee or to drive it to launch the report. Rep. Tom McClintock was the one Republican to vote with Democrats on the Casten decision.
The Ethics Committee was investigating allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, shared inappropriate pictures or movies on the Home flooring, misused state identification data, transformed marketing campaign funds to private use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible reward.
Consultant Sean Casten attends a information convention on the US Securities and Trade Fee local weather rule in Washington, Mar. 6, 2024.
Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos
The ground vote got here after the bipartisan Ethics Committee met Thursday afternoon to debate the report. Throughout its final assembly in November, Republican committee members blocked the report’s launch.
Johnson has persistently mentioned the Gaetz ethics report shouldn’t be launched to the general public, citing a longstanding custom of dropping investigations after a member leaves Congress. Gaetz resigned abruptly final month after President-elect Donald Trump introduced him as his choice for lawyer common. He later withdrew from consideration after it grew to become clear he was going through an uphill climb from each Democrats and Republicans within the Senate, which might vote whether or not to verify his nomination.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, speaks in the course of the third day of the 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 17, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP by way of Getty Photos
Democrats pushed for the report’s launch after Trump’s announcement, saying it was related to the Senate’s consideration of him for lawyer common. Regardless that Gaetz withdrew, Democrats determined to proceed their effort.
Gaetz was reelected to the 119th Congress earlier than Trump picked him for AG, however he introduced after his withdrawal that he wouldn’t serve one other time period. He pledged that he stays “totally dedicated” to aiding the president-elect.
Gaetz has since been promoting personal movies on Cameo, an internet site the place customers can buy a customized video message from from celebrities.
