Oops, maybe not. I thought the GOP was all about transparency and openness? Maybe that was the old GOP. What right do the American people have to know what is in a House ethics report (in a Republican controlled House) for the person nominated to be the country's top lawyer?

Speaker Johnson says Gaetz ethics report should not be released

Speaker Johnson says Gaetz ethics report should not be released, rebuffing senators

House Speaker Mike Johnson says that he will “strongly request” that the House Ethics Committee not release the results of its investigation into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press
November 15, 2024, 3:55 PM

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that he will “strongly request” that the House Ethics Committee not release the results of its investigation into ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, rebuffing senators who are demanding access now that Gaetz is President-elect Donald Trump 's nominee for attorney general.

Johnson’s intervention is highly unusual, as the Ethics panel has traditionally operated independently. His move seems certain to add the growing furor on Capitol Hill over Gaetz’s nomination to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

"I’m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report, because that is not the way we do things in the House,” Johnson told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “And I think that would be a terrible precedent to set.”

Ethics reports have previously been released after a member's resignation, though it is extremely rare.

Johnson's comments were a reversal from Wednesday, when he suggested a hands-off approach to the Gaetz report. The "Speaker of the House is not involved in that and can’t be involved in that,” he previously said of the Ethics committee.

The bipartisan Ethics panel is under enormous pressure as it weighs what to do about its years-long probe into sexual misconduct and other allegations against Gaetz, who resigned from Congress on Wednesday after Trump announced him as his nominee for attorney general.

It is standard practice for the Ethics Committee to end investigations when members of Congress depart on the grounds that they lack jurisdiction to continue. But the circumstances with Gaetz are hardly standard, given his potential role in Trump's Cabinet. Senators saying the panel's material must see the light of day so that they can fully vet his nomination.

“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Thursday. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s separate investigation against him into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended with no federal charges.

“The rules of the House have always been that a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the Ethics committee,” Johnson added. “And so I don’t think that’s relevant.”

But Republican and Democratic senators alike on the Judiciary Committee that would review Gaetz’s attorney general nomination have called for the report to be made available to them.

“I think it’s going to be material in the proceedings,” said Sen. Thomas Tillis, a North Carolina Republican.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said, “I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.”

However, the chairman of the Ethics panel, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., says he doesn’t know if the committee could provide the report to the Senate: “That is something that staff is looking into and trying to provide some guidance to members."

When asked if he would at least discuss the report with members of the upper chamber, Guest said "that is a decision for the committee as a whole to take up at some point.”

Trump’s attorney general is expected to oversee radical changes to the Justice Department, which has been the target of Trump’s ire over two criminal cases it brought accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump, who cast himself as the victim of politically motivated prosecutions, vowed repeatedly on the campaign trail to carry out retribution against his political enemies if returned to the White House.

In a statement Wednesday announcing his pick, Trump said Gaetz would root out “systemic corruption” at the Justice Department and return the department “to its true mission of fighting crime and upholding our democracy and constitution.”

The federal sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz began under Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump’s first term and focused on allegations that Gaetz and onetime political ally Joel Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex.

Greenberg, a fellow Republican who served as the tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in 2021 that he paid women and an underage girl to have sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced in late 2022 to 11 years in prison.

The only relationship Gaetz should have with the DOJ is as a defendant.

What a wonderful pick….

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
What a wonderful pick….

Yet it's only the second-worse, so far.

I was afraid once the lection is over, the joke that is the American system will give us a bit of a break!

Not a chance!

I LOVE IT!

The most corrupt political system in the world.

LEGALLY!

Time for the party of openness and transparency to circle the wagons and ensure there is no openness and transparency. Screw the American people, they have no right to see an ethics investigation that a Republican controlled House conducted into the person that has been nominated to be the country's top lawyer.

Jim Jordan says Gaetz ethics report "Shouldn't go public"

Jim Jordan weighs in on releasing Gaetz ethics report: ‘Shouldn’t go public’
Story by Emily Hallas, Washington Examiner

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is fighting to keep a House Ethics Committee report about attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz from being released.

The Ethics Committee was set to vote on Friday about whether or not it would publish a report detailing the findings into allegations Gaetz was involved with sex trafficking and illicit drug use, though the meeting has reportedly been canceled. With several Washington lawmakers calling on the committee to release the report anyway, Jordan, who is one of the most powerful Republicans in the lower chamber, said the move would go against "the rules."

During a Fox News interview Thursday, Jordan noted that it was his “understanding” that, per committee rules, the report was “not supposed to go public.”

Gaetz swiftly resigned his House seat after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him on Wednesday to lead the Department of Justice. As the ex-Florida lawmaker is no longer a member of Congress, the Ethics Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction over him — hence, Jordan’s argument that the investigation should not be released.

Jordan’s position marks a contrast to at least one of his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the upper chamber.

“I think that there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters Thursday.

Cornyn, who will play a pivotal role in determining whether Senate Republicans coalesce to push Gaetz’s nomination through a tough confirmation battle, continued to say he “absolutely” wanted the committee to release the report.

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate's next majority leader, expressed a noncommittal attitude toward supporting Trump’s attorney general nominee. With top Trump allies expressing extreme displeasure with the private nature of the process and pushing alternative candidates, Thune appeared to step off on the wrong foot with the president-elect’s camp.

Although he promised in a recent post to X to “get to work implementing President Trump’s agenda on behalf of the American people,” Thune has not been firm in backing Gaetz.

“We don’t know until we start the [confirmation] process,” Thune said this week about Gaetz’s chances of getting confirmed. “And that’s what we intend to do with him and all the other potential nominees.”

While Republican Senate leaders are far from enthusiastic about Trump’s DOJ pick, GOP chiefs in the lower chamber are singing Gaetz’s praises.

“Everyone who served with him will tell you he is one of the most intelligent members of the Congress. He’s an accomplished attorney,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Wednesday.

Jordan continued the praise, saying the next day, “There are very few people who have the cross-examination skills he does.”

“I want someone at the Justice Department who can tell us who planted the pipe bombs on Jan. 6, who leaked the Dobbs opinion, who put cocaine at the White House instead of all the other stuff they seem to be focused on,” he added.

This isn't the first time Jordan has stood up for Gaetz, even as others in the GOP have condemned the Florida Republican.

Gaetz drew backlash from some members of his own party last year when he helped topple former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position over a disagreement on passing massive government spending bills. Several times throughout 2023, Gaetz called on House Republicans to replace McCarthy with Jordan.

While he was a loyal McCarthy ally who worked to help him keep the speaker's chair, Jordan also defended Gaetz from calls that he should be removed from the Republican caucus for his actions.

"I don’t think that’s warranted,” Jordan said at the time. “We’ve got a four-seat majority. Matt’s a talented member of Congress. I disagree with what he did ... but he’s a great member of our committee. ... I think we’ve got to come together.”

. . . where are the Republican faithful? Should the House be able to deep six the ethics report on the man nominated to be the country's top lawyer? It is okay to disagree with MAGA theology, I really do not think you will be stuck down by lightning. At least you should have the courage to express a view and defend it.

I wouldn't have nominated mister "looks like a b tier villain" to any post above dog catcher, and he is nearly as arrogant as some lefties -- so, hard pass for me

. . . the silence is deafening. It actually seems like some fear saying anything against the MAGA theology is akin to heresy.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
. . . the silence is deafening. It actually seems like some fear saying anything against the MAGA theology is akin to heresy.

They won!

Now they are holding their breath waiting for their MAGA ARSEHOLE to start screwing things up!

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
. . . the silence is deafening. It actually seems like some fear saying anything against the MAGA theology is akin to heresy.

Because they (we) know how any comment, rebuffing one of the lefts inflammatory accusations is met with a vile response.

Example, I posted a YouTube of Tucker interviewing a Cassidy Hutchinsons (sp) lawyer. It was met with scorn, simply because of who did the interview.

So then, why did the entire progressive left in here, cheer for Kamala when Brett Baer Interviewed her? shouldn't his entire interview been thrown out as not credible?

Mike, you yourself stated "I have the ability to self examine that I may be wrong" IIRC. Perhaps listen to his interview, NOT TUCKERS words, the interviewee's. You would then have more data to decide if the legal system was used against him as a tool. Also, written threats to other attorneys that dare defend Trump or Trump associates.

A closed mind says much.

I'll await your response, then give you my opinion of the Geatz appointment.

Agree, thought this post might be refreshing. Nope. Standard dead horse doom gloom.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
. . . the silence is deafening. It actually seems like some fear saying anything against the MAGA theology is akin to heresy.

Because they (we) know how any comment, rebuffing one of the lefts inflammatory accusations is met with a vile response.

Example, I posted a YouTube of Tucker interviewing a Cassidy Hutchinsons (sp) lawyer. It was met with scorn, simply because of who did the interview.

So then, why did the entire progressive left in here, cheer for Kamala when Brett Baer Interviewed her? shouldn't his entire interview been thrown out as not credible?

Mike, you yourself stated "I have the ability to self examine that I may be wrong" IIRC. Perhaps listen to his interview, NOT TUCKERS words, the interviewee's. You would then have more data to decide if the legal system was used against him as a tool. Also, written threats to other attorneys that dare defend Trump or Trump associates.

A closed mind says much.

I'll await your response, then give you my opinion of the Geatz appointment.

There was nothing inflammatory said in response.

It is not inflammatory to tell you we are not going to listen to your adjudicated political lier. The man whose lies cost his company 3/4 of a billion dollars and fire less to millions believing the election of 2020 was tainted. The lier will not be listened to.

You are free to. We will ignore.

That is not inflationary. It is true Carlson is a political lier and Fox paid for it. He was fired for it. He has no weight w me.

quote:

Originally posted by tomahawker:
Agree, thought this post might be refreshing. Nope. Standard dead horse doom gloom.

You always have so much to contribute to the conversation.

I guess to me it depends on what is in there.

If it’s a bunch of hearsay, I can see it being best to leave it quiet although if there is any meat to the allegations it will come out as time goes forward, and the republicans will look like the Biden democrats and hurt themselves long term.

I see nothing positive for the GOP to be able to run roughshod for 2 years and then get their rumps handed to them because the populace sees it as more of the same.

1) Hearsay admissible in these hearings.
2) Even in a trial, there are 23 numerated exceptions to Hearsay.
3) “Evidence” is what is stated under oath. The fact finder gets to chose who and how much to believe. A da t finder can chose to believe all, some, none, or any part of the testimony.
4) Testimony as to an actor’s actions are never hearsay.
5) If the report is not released to the Senate to use in vetting how are we to know what is in the report.

The report needs to go to the Senate and used in the Vetting processes.

If the House refuses, that alone should force a vote against confirmation.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

I'll await your response, then give you my opinion of the Geatz appointment.

. . . promises made, promises kept?

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:

quote:

Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

I'll await your response, then give you my opinion of the Geatz appointment.

. . . promises made, promises kept?

I’ll put it up in the morning. I’ll need to choose my words very carefully

As you frame your response, I really do care if you think Gaetz is the next greatest thing to Trump or a worthless piece of shit. I just would like for one the outspoken Trump supporters to address the simple question of whether the ethics committee report, paid for by US taxpayers, should be released as part of the confirmation hearings for someone nominated to be the country’s top lawyer or deep sixed to protect him because he resigned days before it’s release to try and prevent its release. Frankly I am not sure why this should be controversial but it has sure sent Team Trump running to the exits. Tribal politics seems to mean we have lost our ability to call a spade a spade, it is defend the tribe regardless of how asinine the tribe’s position is.

https://x.com/charliekirk11/st...220377861677116?s=46

quote:

Mollie Hemingway delivers an absolutely masterful defense of Matt Gaetz as AG:

For eight years, we haven't had a Department of Justice, we've had a Department of Injustice, and too few of our leaders in DC had the spine to fight back. Gaetz has enemies in DC precisely because he didn't back down from the toughest fights. He is the warrior we need to set things right.

Watch the video.

Matt Gaetz is as big of a POS as Trump. Scumbags attract other scumbags. Same as always.

Both of them are lovely role models for your son Lane(not really).

As stated, I am out on Gaetz but there is a lot of good qualities from President Trump my son can take home.

Ken Paxton for AG!

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
As stated, I am out on Gaetz but there is a lot of good qualities from President Trump my son can take home.

Ken Paxton for AG!

Yes, lying, cheating, philandering, fraud, womanizing, a lack of humility....the list is long.

All seem to be the new set of Christian values since Trump came along

Trump is about the sorriest excuse for a role model I could imagine, he does not embody any of the Christian beliefs I was taught.

Mental toughness
Tenacity
Work ethic

To name 3 quick ones.

I am about to relegate you to the nut bin with ME.

You have just been told by LarryShores a FL conservative this guy has no business being a member of the House let alone AG.

You do not know anything about Gaetz having positive attributes.

All you know is he is a far right politician.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Mental toughness
Tenacity
Work ethic

To name 3 quick ones.

I am about to relegate you to the nut bin with ME.

I noticed honesty and integrity do not show up among Trump's positive attributes.

There is NOTHING Christian about that POS.

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
As stated, I am out on Gaetz but there is a lot of good qualities from President Trump my son can take home.

Ken Paxton for AG!

If you model yourself on Trump and Paxton you are not a man.

Here it is folks hero worship and the cult of tough guy on full display.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:
You have just been told by LarryShores a FL conservative this guy has no business being a member of the House let alone AG.

You do not know anything about Gaetz having positive attributes.

All you know is he is a far right politician.

Larry and I are personally acquainted and good friends. I take what he says to heart. He is a good man and entitled to his opinion as am I.

Gaetz is not my choice. But I see some strong points with him.

Ken Paxton for AG!

Paxton, Gaetz and Trump are all scumbags.

quote:

Originally posted by LHeym500:

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
As stated, I am out on Gaetz but there is a lot of good qualities from President Trump my son can take home.

Ken Paxton for AG!

If you model yourself on Trump and Paxton you are not a man.

Here it is folks hero worship and the cult of tough guy on full display.

Is that the best you can do?

Now I am not a man.

Anytime you want to start the man contest…I am there. If you want a world class man contest make sure to invite Steve Ahrenberg.

People who admire liars, adulterers, abusers of woman, those who directly inspire a movement of violence against our Constitution, call for our Constitution to be suspended, and middle after them are not men.

If that is you, so be it.

You have shown yourself to be a base person.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
As you frame your response, I really do care if you think Gaetz is the next greatest thing to Trump or a worthless piece of shit. I just would like for one the outspoken Trump supporters to address the simple question of whether the ethics committee report, paid for by US taxpayers, should be released as part of the confirmation hearings for someone nominated to be the country’s top lawyer or deep sixed to protect him because he resigned days before it’s release to try and prevent its release. Frankly I am not sure why this should be controversial but it has sure sent Team Trump running to the exits. Tribal politics seems to mean we have lost our ability to call a spade a spade, it is defend the tribe regardless of how asinine the tribe’s position is.

Mike -

The problem with my response is, I already understand we have a fundamental disagreement on the current DOJ and how it has targeted certain groups or individuals based on politics or gender issues. I give you an example of the parents at school board meetings being labels as domestic terrorists.

Second; I am not a typical Trump supporter, I am America first for sure and the Biden administrations policies were not good for America, its future and its children.

The trans thing likely cost the Democrats the election, America has rejected it. Immigration, we still don't fully understand the depth of how many people came here illegally.

Inflation, 20% since Biden took office.

Yet for me, weaponization of the agencies is near the top, enter Matt Geatz. To achieve his goals, Trump had to appoint a hit man. He doesn't have the luxury of time, so he needed a no apologies warrior to clean this shit out (the shit we disagree upon).

If you don't believe in the weaponization or that lawfare has been a tool against Trump and his associates, we will never agree. My hope is that you might try to see the appointment of Geatz through Trumps prism to at least understand why he picked him.

to answer your question about Gaetz himself, No I don't think he was a good pick. I believe a President, ANY President should pick the very best candidate for the job at hand, for the American people, not himself.

Answer this question, did Biden pick the best? IS Rachel Levine the very best? Or was he/she a diversity hire, or the freak the stole the woman's underwear? Or, I could go on.

Lane posted a link to the story about witness credibility to Gaetz, that said, yes I believe the report should come out in his confirmation hearings, simply because in all honesty, if it were a democrat, I'd want it out...scalps brother, that's what this forum is all about.

I watched Gaetz take a reporter through the halls of Congress, openly telling him about all the fortunes made by individual members on insider trading deals, he's made MANY enemies.

Tribal politics, yep. It's hopelessly divided America. You should see how I get hammered by the loony lefties on bike rides or at races. I just smile and stomp the pedals. I WILL NOT ENGAGE.

You will not engage because you have created your own reality, one where Trump is a victim not the criminal that he is.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

What I have written, I have written.

Worship on.

You have relegated yourself to the irrelevant bin.

It is so entertaining reading the posts on this forum. Brilliant stuff.
The left's favourite responses are POS, facist, liar, cheat and on and on. But.
On their side they have the Clintons. And their pick to be their leader was a woman who sucked a man dick who was twice her age to get where she got. You guys throw a lot of stones when your team aint that shiny.