Puppet Master-in-Chief

Trump turns the screws on the speaker

Credit: Getty Images

As you might imagine, a lot of news comes across my computer screen on any given day — some of it hopeful, some of it distressing. Then you read something that just makes you downright furious. A recent move by the speaker of the House falls into that category. 

The issue here is the nomination of former Congressman Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. The House Ethics Committee has, for years, been looking into allegations of sexual abuse by Gaetz. 

The committee was due to vote to release its report last Friday, but Gaetz had resigned from the House two days earlier. Once he was no longer a congressman, the committee lost its jurisdiction, and the decision to release the report was up in the air. At first, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not “get involved” with the decision to release the report. 

Just hours after he made that pledge, Johnson traveled from D.C. to Palm Beach and met with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He says he didn’t discuss “one word” with the President-elect about the Gaetz ethics probe. And if you believe that, stand by for flying pigs.  

Upon returning to Washington the next day, Johnson told reporters, “I’m going to strongly request the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House.” 

Wow. But it is the way we do things in a constitutional republic based on the principles of freedom and democracy … or it was, before Trump. Still, lawmakers may not need additional motivation to bring some sunlight to the Gaetz affair. Telling them “no” only increases their desire to learn every word.

Surely Johnson doesn’t think the Senate would confirm an alleged child molester and illegal drug user to become the top law enforcement officer in the country without a proper vetting. Trump hasn’t been crowned king yet. Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and therefore is entitled to a presumption of innocence. But taking that into full account, why are Johnson and Trump working so hard to prevent the facts from being known?

Remember, it was a Republican-controlled House that allowed the Gaetz ethics probe to continue, even as the Department of Justice conducted its own inquiry. Then the DOJ chose not to share its findings when it declined to charge Gaetz. But the House committee persevered and over the summer acquired public and non-public records from a civil lawsuit brought by the man who owns the house where the alleged “sex party” took place. 

The records have been described as a trove of evidence against Gaetz, including depositions by the alleged underaged victim and several other women who were at the party attended by Congressman Gaetz. Today, Joel Leppard, a lawyer for two of those women, told ABC News that Gaetz paid both of them for sex. One of his clients testified that she saw Gaetz having sex with the 17-year-old. Leppard also told ABC that Gaetz paid for sex using Venmo, so there is evidence of the transactions. 

Gaetz has repeatedly denied all of the allegations.

Just because Speaker Johnson “strongly requests” that the report not be released doesn’t mean the senators who will vote on Gaetz’s nomination won’t see it. The report exists. It could very well be leaked. It could even still be released. The ethics committee is meeting Wednesday to decide what to do. And it’s not as though Gaetz has a lot of fans, even (especially?) among Republicans. 

Congressman Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, had this to say after Gaetz’s nomination was announced. “He’s getting what he wants, regardless, which is: I’m standing here, and we’re all standing here, wasting our time talking about a guy who is literally worse than the gum on the bottom of my shoe.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton said that Gaetz “must be the worst nomination for a Cabinet position in American history.”

Mike Simpson, a Republican House member from Idaho who thinks the Senate should see the ethics report, suggested Gaetz’s nomination and subsequent resignation constituted an attempt “to prevent that report from going out.” Congressman Simpson, you could be on to something there.

Of course, the Gaetz-to-DOJ idea was typical Trump, hatched in haste on a plane ride from Florida to Washington. The reason for the haste is most likely written in the pages of the ethics committee report, which should be released immediately. 

All is not lost, yet. The Senate may do its due diligence during Gaetz’s confirmation hearing. If the ethics report is not released, the women who testified before the House Ethics Committee could be subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Their lawyer is hoping that won’t be necessary. 

While the speaker may not like transparency, senators from both parties love it, especially if it gives them an out to vote “no.” 

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Dan