House Ethics panel meets on Gaetz, but chair declines to give further details

The House Ethics Committee said the panel met Thursday to discuss former Rep. Matt Gaetz, but declined to release any details.

“The Committee is continuing to discuss the matter," the panel said, adding there would be "no further statements."

Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) declined to comment on the meeting but said he’d vote against a last-ditch effort by Democrats to force the release of the report. The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, wasn’t at Thursday’s meeting, though Guest brushed off her absence and said “it’s not uncommon” for members to not be able to attend. Wild expressed frustration with Guest after the panel's last closed-door meeting, saying he had mischaracterized a vote.

Guest said the panel would meet again this year. Wild's office did not respond to a request for comment.

While Gaetz was President-elect Donald Trump’s original pick for attorney general, the Florida Republican withdrew from consideration as it became clear he didn’t have the votes to be confirmed in the GOP-controlled Senate.

The evenly divided panel deadlocked on releasing the the report detailing their investigation into Gaetz in a late November meeting. Since then, Democrats have stewed over the decision, though his withdrawal from attorney general consideration tempered some lawmakers’ concerns about the report.