Tag: House Ethics Committee

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Congress GOP

House GOP Caucus Ready To Expel Gaetz From Congress On Drug And Sex Charges

Having already alienated nearly every powerful member of the House Republican caucus, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) may now be on the verge of getting hit by karma in a major way, with many in the GOP ready to expel him from Congress just as soon as the House Ethics Committee completes its investigation of him on allegations of illegal drug use and paying underage girls to have sex with him.

CNN reports that Republicans in the House are looking for a reason to formally boot Gaetz out of Congress completely, a move which is almost never taken, with only 5 House members in U.S. history being given the boot. 15 members have been removed from the Senate.

Gaetz’s calls for Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to be removed from his leadership post appear to have provided the impetus for the Florida Republican to be ousted.

Some McCarthy allies have suggested they should just force the vote themselves and call Gaetz’s bluff, in order to neuter the threat.

“I heard some hint at this. I don’t like playing games, but we can’t be held hostage by these threats,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican. “If he does the motion, then we need to hit head-on and win. We need to point out that he offers no alternative, just nihilism.”

Gaetz’s threat of ousting McCarthy has also rankled some inside the GOP conference. One Republican lawmaker pointed to the ongoing Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz, warning if he wasn’t cleared, he could get expelled by those who want him gone.

“We want him out,” the member said.

Gaetz was up early Sunday and making the rounds on the morning cable news shows, telling Jake Tapper on “State of the Union”:

“I do intend to file a motion to vacate against Speaker McCarthy this week. I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid. I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”

“There’s nothing about delaying this process that is being the adult in the room,” he added. “We are at this point because Kevin McCarthy made multiple contradictory promises about the budget top line to different groups of people.”

A damaging report from the ethics committee would provide all the cover Republicans need for casting Gaetz aside, Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News notes:

House GOP members are seeking to quickly expel Gaetz if the ethics report comes back with findings of guilt. Following threats to vacate McCarthy, one tells me “No one can stand him at this point. A smart guy without morals.”

If indeed consensus inside the GOP caucus has reached this point, Gaetz should start packing up his shit and preparing for an early retirement from Congress because his days are numbered.

 

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Congress GOP

House Ethics Committee Investigating Matt Gaetz For Sexual Misconduct And Illegal Drug Use

 

Though he managed to not be criminally charged for allegedly engaging in the sexual trafficking of underage girls, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is once again under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for possible sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

CNN reports the committee’s investigation — which started in 2021 — has been revived after it was shut down when Republicans narrowly took control of the House of Representatives after the 2022 midterm election.

A source familiar with the House panel’s work told CNN that the Justice Department’s decision not to bring charges against Gaetz does not impact what the committee will and won’t investigate. The committee plans to examine the same allegations they were looking into when they opened the investigation in 2021, the source told CNN.

The Ethics Committee, which at the time was controlled by Democrats, originally opened an investigation in 2021, publicly announcing that they were examining a range of allegations including that Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, converted campaign funds to personal use and accepted a bribe, among other claims.

Gaetz insisted he wasn’t worried about being under investigation yet again.

“The Ethics Committee typically operates through leaks and so this is no surprise, but the Ethics Committee has never found me to be in violation of House rules, though they’ve been investigating me during my entire seven years in Congress,” he said. “It’s also funny that the one guy who doesn’t take the corrupt lobbyist and PAC money seems to be under the most Ethics investigation.”

The Florida Republican, you may recall, was suspected of having committed some very serious federal crimes.

The investigation into Gaetz came after allegations emerged that the he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. The Justice Department investigated to determine if Gaetz had paid or illegally trafficked the girl to have sex. His ex-girlfriend was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony to a federal grand jury. 

Had Gaetz been charged and found guilty of sexually trafficking an underage girl, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.

Gaetz also reportedly asked failed ex-president Donald Trump for a pardon in the final days of the administration.

 

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Congress GOP

House Republicans Planning To ‘Gut’ Office Of Congressional Ethics With Rule Change

Republicans formally take control of the House of Representatives tomorrow, and while they campaigned on combating inflation and reducing the price of gasoline, it seems their first move will be to neuter the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), especially since so many of their members are facing investigation by that panel.

Politico congressional correspondent Nicholas Wu found a major rule change that would impose term limits for serving on the Ethics Committee, which would allow them to give Democrats on the committee the boot.

Be sure and note the additional provision which would make it much harder for committee members to hire staff.

Not bad enough? NPR congressional reporter Deidre Walsh also happened upon this tidbit: The moves would “effectively gut” the Office of Congressional Ethics.

And Lisa Gilbert, the executive vice president of Public Citizen, which advocates for transparency in government, noted:

“OCE is a bipartisan ethics office that helps monitor and report on ethics issues involving members of Congress. It has a proven track record of enhancing transparency and enforcement of ethics rules and has gained widespread support among the American public. It has been reauthorized every Congress since its inception in 2008. We ask each and every Member commit to encouraging the smooth reauthorization of OCE once again in the next Congress.”

As usual, Republicans pretend to care about the issues which impact voters the most, but when given power they prove that their only real agenda is to protect themselves from the consequences of their own disgusting behavior.