McCarthy accuses Gaetz of 'lying' to Trump about ethics report

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of lying to President-elect Trump about an unreleased report about him compiled by the House Ethics Committee.  

“No one thought that [the nomination] would pass,” McCarthy said Sunday on Fox News. “I blame Matt Gaetz for lying to the president about his ethics report. People know that. That’s why he made the motion against me. People know.” 

McCarthy for months has accused Gaetz of leading the bid to oust him in October 2023 as Speaker because McCarthy wouldn’t put a stop to Gaetz’s ethics investigation. Gaetz accused McCarthy of failing to push hard enough for conservative priorities like spending cuts.

The two have often sparred in public comments in the ensuing months. While the ethics report remains under wraps because Gaetz left Congress, some of the evidence and testimony reportedly on file with the committee was leaked. A lawyer for two women said they told the panel they saw Gaetz “having sex with a minor” at a party.

Last week, McCarthy suggested the former Florida representative wanted an excuse to resign from Congress when he accepted Trump's short-lived nomination to become his attorney general. A week later, Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid signs he would not have the votes in the Senate to be confirmed. 

McCarthy reiterated that comment Sunday on Fox News.

“That’s why he’s not capable of even staying in Congress. He needed an excuse to resign because the ethics report would be done in a couple of days,” he said. “And that’s unfortunate. But it’s a better Congress today where they’re going forward.” 

Last month, hard-line conservatives struck a tentative deal with House Republicans to raise the threshold to force a vote to oust the Speaker in exchange for concessions on rule changes, giving Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) more protection from a "motion to vacate," like the one that ousted McCarthy.

However, Johnson will be working with a razor-thin majority, especially with a few GOP House members set to jump to the Trump administration early next year.