U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) attends the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Feather Forum on July 16, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Patrick T. Fallon AFP | Getty Images
A woman told the House Ethics Committee that she saw President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. Attorney General Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor, her attorney said Friday.
“My client testified before the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Rep. Gaetz having sex with a minor at a house party in Orlando in 2017,” Joel Leppard said.
Far-right Republican Representative Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday after Trump announced plans to nominate him as attorney general and denied all accusations of sexual misconduct.
Leppard said the women he represents testified before the House Ethics Committee in April.
He said he provided testimony about Gaetz to the committee on behalf of two witnesses.
“The American people deserve to know the truth about the man who will become the country’s top law enforcement official,” Lepard told NBC News.
ABC News first reported Leppard has said his client has testified before the panel.
“Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice cleared Matt Gaetz and did not bring charges against him. Are you alleging that Garland participated in a cover-up?” Gaetz’s a spokesman said Friday.
Gaetz, 42, who represents Florida’s 1st District, which covers parts of the Florida Panhandle, is under investigation by the FBI on sex trafficking charges involving a 17-year-old teen. Not charged with any criminal conduct.
The federal investigation ended last year. Gates Already said He was the target of a blackmail plot.
The House Ethics Committee launched an investigation in April 2021. Reauthorized in 2023 after the department withdrew its request for a postponement.
Now that Gaetz has resigned from Congress, it remains unclear what will happen to the committee’s report.
some republican senators say They want details of the committee’s investigation before the confirmation vote.
On Friday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he planned to Asking the ethics panel not to release its reportsaying that since Gates is no longer in Congress, doing so would be a “serious breach of the agreement.”
Senate should vote on Gaetz’s confirmation as attorney general, despite adjournment can be arranged. Trump called on the Senate Republican majority to allow him to make the recess appointments.
The bipartisan, 10-member House Ethics Committee was scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the Gates report and whether to release it to the public, but the meeting was canceled on Thursday, a source said. .
Gaetz practiced law at the Florida Bar before being elected as a state representative. He was first elected to Congress in the 2016 general election, began his first term in early 2017, and was re-elected in November.
