After AG Nomination, Bipartisan Call for Gaetz Ethics Probe Report

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is in the midst of an ethics probe by the House Ethics Committee.

He was also named by Trump as the incoming Attorney General, which led to Gaetz immediately resigning his seat.

That move means the ethics probe is technically over, but members of Congress are still asking the committee to release its findings.

A Bad Pick

I don’t know what you guys feel about Gaetz, but I think he is a bit of a clown.

He rarely introduced legislation that can be taken seriously, and he seems more interested in creating likes and shares than he is in legislating.

He is a Trump loyalist, however, and Trump rewarded him by naming him as his AG, a move I simply cannot support.

If you recall, on his way out the door, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) warned that Gaetz was going to be taken down and possibly ousted from office over this probe.

On Friday, the panel was supposed to meet to discuss publicizing the report, but now Senators on both sides of the aisle are demanding the probe be made public before they decide on Gaetz’s nomination.

Gaetz did not have to resign his seat until he was officially confirmed, so there is clearly something to this probe.

His resignation seems to be a countermove to block the results of the probe from getting out. Quite frankly, I don’t understand why Trump would nominate someone with these types of allegations hanging over him.

Gaetz has been accused of sexual misconduct and the illicit use of drugs.  These are charges that Gaetz has always vehemently denied, but McCarthy seemed pretty certain they had the goods on him.

To that point, Gaetz has also stated numerous times that he thought the probe was revenge for him having ousted McCarthy as Speaker of the House.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that would vet the incoming AG, stated, “I can’t understand any situation under which we would deny ourselves access to full and complete information.

“Part of this is not only to determine fitness for the nominee, it’s also to protect the president.”

I have seen at least four Republican Senators question this nomination, and that would be one more than would be needed to defeat the nomination.

There are far better people for this position, so my gut tells me his nomination will be denied, and Gaetz will wind up with a post in the administration that does not require Senate approval.