WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin on Sunday called on the House of Representatives to share an unpublished ethics report into alleged sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl by the president’s pick, Matt Gaetz. elected Donald Trump for attorney general.
Gaetz, 42, resigned his seat in the Republican-controlled House on Wednesday, hours after Trump revealed his pick of the lawmaker and two days before the House Ethics Committee was expected to release its report, which also looked at allegations of illegal drug use. Gaetz denies any wrongdoing.
Mullin told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Senate, which has the authority to confirm or deny Trump’s nominations to high-level positions, needs to see the report.
“The Senate should have access to that,” Mullin said. “Should it be made public or not? I guess that will be part of the negotiations.”
Gaetz is one of the Cabinet nominees chosen by Trump last week who lack the resumes typically seen in candidates for high-level administration positions. He would need to be confirmed by the Senate – where Trump’s Republicans will have a majority of at least 52 of the 100 seats – to win the job. A handful have expressed skepticism about the election.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that the ethics committee should not release its report. He kept it on Sunday.
“The president does not have the authority to prevent the release of a report by the ethics committee, but I have simply stated what I think is an obvious point: that we do not want to go down that path,” Johnson said. on CNN.
Mullin previously described Gaetz as unprincipled and said Sunday that “Matt Gaetz’s record does matter.”
But he said he had not made a decision on whether to vote for or against Gaetz.
“I’m going to give him a fair shot like any individual,” Mullin said.
The Justice Department investigated Gaetz for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving the teenager. Gaetz’s office said in 2023 that prosecutors had told him he would not face criminal charges.
The girl’s lawyer asked Thursday that the report be made public.
Mullin also seemed open to the idea of allowing Trump to bypass the Senate as an “absolute last resort” if lawmakers somehow couldn’t reach a deal.
The technique, called recess appointment, allows the president to short-circuit the power of the upper house to block political candidates. Trump has publicly asked Republican lawmakers to give him that power, a move that would give him extraordinary freedom to appoint whoever he wants.
Senate Democrats have expressed widespread opposition to Gaetz’s pick.
“The Senate has a constitutional role,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said on Fox News on Sunday. “Our advisory and consenting role is called ensuring that a president-elect largely has his choice… but not putting in people who are not qualified or who lack the character and capabilities necessary to lead an incredibly important agency like the Department of Justice.”