11.14.24

Chair Durbin Leads Senate Judiciary Democrats In Letter Asking House Ethics Committee To Release Ethics Report On Matt Gaetz

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today led all Senate Judiciary Democrats in a letter to the House Ethics Committee urging the House Ethics Committee to preserve and transmit to the Senate Judiciary Committee all relevant documentation on former Congressman Matt Gaetz, including the report that the House Ethics Committee was reportedly prepared to vote to release tomorrow. The letter follows Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from Congress yesterday after President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Mr. Gaetz to serve as Attorney General.

The Senators wrote, “The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report and findings. We cannot allow this critical information from a bipartisan investigation into longstanding public allegations to be hidden from the American people, given that it is directly relevant to the question of whether Mr. Gaetz is qualified and fit to be the next Attorney General of the United States.”

The Senators continued, “The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is crucial that we review all of the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination. We thus request that you immediately provide to the Senate Judiciary Committee your Committee’s report and all documentation related to your investigation into Mr. Gaetz’s alleged misconduct. The Senate Judiciary Committee will accept this information in any format that accords with your Committee’s rules, but please include all underlying source materials on which you relied, including interviews and contact information for any of these sources.”

In April 2021, the House Ethics Committee announced that the Committee was “aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz 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,” and as a result, the Committee had “begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations.”

In June 2024, the House Ethics Committee issued a statement noting that the Committee had “determined that certain of the allegations merit continued review” and that “the Committee has also identified additional allegations that merit review,” including allegations pursuant to Committee Rules 14(a)(3) and 18(a) that Representative Gaetz may have: engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

There is substantial precedent for the release of such materials in both chambers of Congress. In 1987, the House Ethics Committee released a preliminary report about former Rep. Bill Boner after he left Congress, stating: “In the Committee’s view, the general policy against issuing reports in cases such as here involved is outweighed by the responsibility of the Committee to fully inform the public regarding the status and results of its efforts up to the date of Representative Boner’s departure from Congress.” Similarly, in 2011, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics released its preliminary reporton former Senator John Ensign after he resigned from Congress. The House Ethics Committee has also continued investigations after Members have left Congress, such as in 2010 when it twice reauthorized its investigation into former Rep. Eric Massa after his departure.

Along with Durbin, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Laphonza Butler (D-CA).

Full text of today’s letter is available here and below:

November 14, 2024

Dear Chairman Guest and Ranking Member Wild:

In light of President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of his intent to nominate former Congressman Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General, we request that the House Committee on Ethics immediately preserve and transmit to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary all relevant documentation on Mr. Gaetz, including the report that your Committee was reportedly prepared to vote to release tomorrow.

In April 2021, you announced that the Committee was “aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz 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,” and as a result, the Committee had “begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations.”

In June 2024, the Committee issued a statement noting that the Committee had “determined that certain of the allegations merit continued review” and that “the Committee has also identified additional allegations that merit review,” including “allegations pursuant to Committee Rules 14(a)(3) and 18(a) that Representative Gaetz may have: engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report and findings. We cannot allow this critical information from a bipartisan investigation into longstanding public allegations to be hidden from the American people, given that it is directly relevant to the question of whether Mr. Gaetz is qualified and fit to be the next Attorney General of the United States. 

The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is crucial that we review all of the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination. We thus request that you immediately provide to the Senate Judiciary Committee your Committee’s report and all documentation related to your investigation into Mr. Gaetz’s alleged misconduct. The Senate Judiciary Committee will accept this information in any format that accords with your Committee’s rules, but please include all underlying source materials on which you relied, including interviews and contact information for any of these sources.

Thank you for your time and prompt consideration of this important request.

Sincerely,

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