Matt Gaetz is likely to face “problems upon problems” if his nomination as U.S. attorney general moves forward, according to Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor and senior CNN legal analyst.
There are calls for a House Ethics Committee report to be published into the former Florida congressman, who resigned from the lower chamber on Wednesday after being nominated by Donald Trump. The committee investigated claims that Gaetz engaged in illicit drug use and sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Newsweek contacted Representative Matt Gaetz and President-elect Donald Trump for comment on Saturday via email outside of regular office hours.
On Friday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was “going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report” on the basis that Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress. Also on Friday, lawyer Joel Leppard told ABC News that his client had “testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Matt Gaetz having sex with a minor.”
Gaetz was investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) between 2020 and 2022 over a possible violation of sex-trafficking laws, but was never charged. He described the allegations against him as “organized criminal extortion.”
Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday, Honig, also a former assistant U.S. attorney, said: “It’s up to Congress whether they release that report. There’s nothing particularly privileged about the report; it’s just a matter of what they want to do.”
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However, Honig said that, if Gaetz’s nomination moves forward, more information from the report is likely to come out, even if it isn’t published.
Honig added: “Whether or not that document, the actual House Ethics report, gets released, the facts that are contained therein are open game as we’re seeing now with this new reporting. People who were interviewed, witnesses, lawyers, they’re free to come forward, and if Matt Gaetz’s nomination moves forward, I don’t know about all of this, but a lot of this could come out and it’s going to cause him problems upon problems.”
The former prosecutor also hit back at claims from Gaetz’s attorney that he had been cleared by the Justice Department [DOJ]. Honig said: “I should say one thing about the denial from Gaetz’s attorney that you showed, it is true the DOJ chose not to charge him but the attorney used the word ‘cleared;’ he said Merrick Garland cleared Matt Gaetz. That is not true … the fact the DOJ chose not to charge him does not mean they cleared him.”
Trump announced he had nominated Gaetz, known for his loyalty to the incoming president, as attorney general on Wednesday. In a statement, he said: “Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
However, the move sparked controversy with John Bolton, Trump’s former White House National Security Advisor, calling for Gaetz and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard to undergo “full field FBI investigations” before their Senate confirmation hearings.
Following the November 5 elections, the Republicans have 53 senators, with a simple majority being required to confirm the next attorney general. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has already expressed skepticism about the selection of Gaetz, commenting: “I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general. We need to have a serious attorney general. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious.”
