The House Ethics Committee, which is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and obstruction against Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, has scheduled a vote on Friday to release its report, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee's work.
Just hours after President-elect Donald Trump said he planned to nominated After Gaetz became Attorney General, Gaetz resigned his congressional seat, effective immediately.
“I do not intend to be sworn into office in the 119th Congress in order to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his resignation letter, obtained by CBS News.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that there was a period of approximately eight weeks during which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis could fill his seat by setting a special election date.
The news of the scheduled vote was first reported by Punchbol.
Now that Gaetz has resigned, it is unclear whether the panel will vote on releasing the report, since Gaetz is no longer in Congress.
However, there is precedent for the Senate making the Ethics Committee report public after a member of Congress resigns from Congress. In 2011, this happened when Nevada Senator John Ensign resigned amid allegations that he tried hide extramarital affair,
But it is unclear whether this would apply to the House, leaving open the possibility that the report on Gaetz would not be released.
In June, the House Ethics Committee issued a statement Saying it was investigating several allegations against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and bribery.
Multiple sources told CBS News at the time four women reported to the House Ethics Committee that he was paid to go to parties that included sex and drugs, and that Gaetz also attended. The committee has Gaetz's Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments to women.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called the committee's investigation a “frivolous” smear campaign.
Some of the allegations of sexual misconduct under review by the committee were also the subject of a previous Justice Department investigation of Gaetz. Federal investigators tried to determine whether Gaetz violated sex trafficking and obstruction of justice laws, but no charges filed,
The House Ethics Committee reopened its investigation into Gaetz in 2023, following the Justice Department's decision not to pursue charges against him.
Gaetz has long blamed then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, for the investigation. and getz later led the movement Dismissing McCarthy from the post of speaker.