Former GOP Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.), who led the Home Ethics Committee from 2015-17, mentioned he “wouldn’t be at all shocked” if the report into former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) misconduct was launched, even after the panel voted Wednesday to maintain it confidential.
Dent joined CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Thursday morning to debate the continuing dilemma about Gaetz, whom President-elect Trump has chosen to be legal professional normal. The committee voted to not launch Gaetz’s report, although members are contemplating different avenues of creating the data public.
Some lawmakers are toying with the concept of creating it public by way of a privileged decision, which might set off a vote within the Home if the committee doesn’t launch the data.
“There are plenty of House Republicans who are going to want to vote for this — we all know that they have great disdain for Matt Gaetz,” Dent mentioned. “So, I wouldn’t be at all shocked if this is released one way or the other.”
The report, which some lawmakers argue is important to the Senate’s means of deciding whether or not to substantiate Gaetz because the Justice Division’s chief, is predicted to element sexual misconduct claims towards the Florida Republican.
Dent, who mentioned he has skilled a number of instances that had been referred to the Justice Division, mentioned he believes the report is “pretty nasty.”
“I don’t know what’s in this report. This is really messy, and Matt Gaetz did not resign because this report was going to be clean,” Dent mentioned.
The committee may additionally vote to launch the report at a later date, and has a gathering scheduled for Dec. 5. The panel has confronted important stress to launch its findings.
There’s a precedent for releasing investigations even after a member has resigned from Congress, as some lawmakers have famous. Dent highlighted the earlier instances Thursday.
“There’s nothing shocking here in terms of what the committee could do,” he instructed Hunt. “So, what’s unusual about this whole thing is, usually when a member of Congress resigns due to scandal, they go away quietly … rebuilding their lives. … They don’t get elevated to the attorney general of the United States.”
“That’s why this is so different,” Dent mentioned.
Dent mentioned he believes the committee will “get to it,” or that the data will probably be made public a method or one other.
