Scoop: How the Matt Gaetz ethics report finally came out
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House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 20, 2024. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
The House Ethics Committee's report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) had been poised to stay officially buried — until two centrist Republicans on the panel unexpectedly voted to release it, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The vote, which took place quietly earlier this month, defied House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) urging that the report stay under wraps.
- Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, filed an 11th-hour lawsuit Monday morning seeking to block the report's publication, alleging it "contains untruthful and defamatory information."
- The effort failed — The committee had voted, and the report was released.
What we're hearing: Reps. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) sided with the committee's five Democrats in voting to release the report, two sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
- Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.), along with Reps. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) and John Rutherford (R-Fla.), opposed doing so, arguing the panel lost jurisdiction after Gaetz resigned, the sources said.
- It was a reversal from when the committee split along party lines in a November vote on releasing the report, thus keeping it under wraps.
What they're saying: Guest, in a statement after the report was released on Monday, confirmed that he "did not vote to support the release of the report."
- "I take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee's well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee's jurisdiction," he said.
- Guest also led a one-page dissent that was appended to the report "on behalf of the members of the committee" who voted against its release that said the lawmakers "do not challenge the Committee's finding."
- Spokespeople for Fischbach, Joyce and the Ethics Committee declined to comment, while spokespeople for Garbarino and Rutherford did not respond to requests for comment.
Zoom in: The report accused Gaetz of violating state and federal law, as well as House rules, including by "regularly" paying for sex between 2017 and 2019, having sex with a 17-year-old in 2017 and using illicit drugs "on multiple occasions" between 2017 and 2019.
- The report also alleged Gaetz "continuously sought to deflect, deter, or mislead" the committee to the point of obstruction.
- Gaetz has vigorously denied the allegations in the report and publicly disparaged the Ethics Committee and some of its members, including Guest and Joyce.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
