‘Black mark’: Lawmakers seethe over Ethics’ Gaetz report imbroglio

Matt Gaetz is plunging the House into chaos, again.

Members of the House Ethics Committee deadlocked over whether to release the findings of an investigation into the former Florida lawmaker, who is Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general. The inaction is triggering outrage among Democrats, who argue the committee is dragging out the process, while Republicans remain furious that Gaetz put them in this position.

In a bid to force the release of the Ethics report, which is expected to cover several allegations, including that Gaetz had sex with a minor, Democratic Reps. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) are offering motions that would open up the decision to the full House.

Conservative allies of Trump and Gaetz are threatening retribution over such a move, but several Republicans are still insisting they want the report to come out. In a manifestation of the tumult, expelled Rep. George Santos, the recent subject of another Ethics Committee report, stopped by the Capitol to get in on the action, threatening to yell at Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) in defense of Gaetz.

“If he runs away from me, I'll go stand in front of his office and scream at him, through his door,” Santos said, standing outside the Capitol looking for Guest.

The havoc is the latest illustration of how Trump’s looming return to Washington is shaking the foundations of Capitol Hill and forcing Republican lawmakers to make a series of immediate, high-stakes calls about the integrity of the legislative branch.

“This is awful,” said Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.). “It's a black mark on the House of Representatives.”

Several House and Senate Republicans want to see the report, a demand some of them reiterated after a Wednesday Ethics Committee meeting on the subject resulted in no clear action. Another panel meeting on the matter is scheduled for Dec. 5.

Asked if he would still want the report to be given to the Senate, even if Ethics Committee Republicans didn’t support releasing it, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said: “The Senate deserves to have it, so they can make a good decision.”

Meanwhile, Democrats do not plan to let the GOP bury the findings of the Gaetz investigation, and that strain could pose a serious threat to the Ethics Committee itself. Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the panel’s top Democrat, accused Guest of having “betrayed the process” by suggesting to reporters that the panel’s decision not to release the report was final.

Guest countered: “That’s her choice, if that’s what she feels.”

Internally, the panel doesn’t even seem to agree whether the Gaetz report is complete or still in draft form. Republicans publicly insisted the report wasn’t finished yet, though two people familiar with the process granted anonymity to speak about private deliberations countered that it was final. Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.

Even before Guest announced to a swarm of reporters that the committee hadn’t reached an agreement on releasing the report, Casten vowed to leapfrog House leadership and force a vote on the floor. Cohen then called Casten, according to a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity, and said he wanted to work together. Casten rejected the offer, so Cohen introduced his own motion to force a vote, leading to a floor pileup.

If Cohen’s and Casten’s efforts to force a vote are allowed to move forward — which is still unclear, since they might not meet the rules of a so-called privileged motion — they would either need support, or absences, from a handful of Republicans. While GOP members may want the report out, it’s unclear if they would back those efforts if they thought the Ethics panel was still working it out.

“I would hope that if you are at home and you are a Republican, a Democrat, an independent, that you would want to see the information on the nominee to become your attorney general or any other member of the Cabinet,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said, adding that it was “not a good sign” that there is information the committee apparently doesn’t want released.

And California Rep. Pete Aguilar, the No. 3 House Democrat, said Wednesday he would “support ranking member Wild” and her calls in recent days for the report to be public.

Though at least one Democrat was hesitant to support a bid to force the committee’s hand.

“This committee will become partisan if we vote to release a report on any member. And so that's my concern,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who is friendly with Gaetz.

The hourslong Ethics Committee meeting and subsequent fury happened a week after Gaetz was tapped to be attorney general and abruptly resigned from the House. Gaetz told leadership that his decision to step down was tied to wanting to be able to fill his seat quickly, but dozens of his colleagues speculated that it was actually to avoid the release of the Ethics Committee’s report.

Even as some Republicans have clamored for the report to be made public, Gaetz allies argue many are seeking retribution against a former lawmaker — one who made a lot of enemies in the chamber, most notably when he orchestrated the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and left the House without a speaker for three tumultuous weeks.

“The Ethics Committee is not a fair investigation,” said Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), who attended a Freedom Caucus meeting this week where Gaetz made an appearance to thank his allies. “I don’t think anybody believes what happens in the Ethics Committee is actually unbiased.”

And conservatives are threatening retribution of their own if Democrats successfully force a vote on the House floor to release the report, warning that it could pave the way for them to try to get Ethics reports involving current or former Democratic members. Those threats are unlikely to deter Democrats, who have been largely unified in wanting the Gaetz report to be released.

“If you release this report, then you know, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let’s start talking about releasing other reports,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said, adding that he would defer to the Ethics Committee.

“I think that would be a valid move,” echoed Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.), when asked about the potential GOP countermove. “I mean, if they're gonna try to dig up that sort of stuff, why not?”

Mia McCarthy contributed to this report.