As if House Republicans weren’t already dealing with failures, divisions, and drama, ABC News reported this week on the latest developments surrounding the ethics investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The reopened House ethics probe into Rep. Matt Gaetz continues to ramp up, as the committee in recent weeks has contacted multiple new witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman, sources tell ABC News. In recent days, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee has reached out to multiple new witnesses, expanding its contact with individuals who have ties to the initial Justice Department investigation into Gaetz, said sources, who told ABC News that committee investigators have begun conducting interviews.
According to the report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, the Ethics Committee’s investigators, in addition to their focus on the congressman’s possible lobbying violations, have also “reached out to witnesses who were questioned as part of the Justice Department’s sex trafficking investigation into the Florida congressman.”
Gaetz responded to the reporting in a written statement that said, “It’s great to see the Ethics Committee has interests beyond trading stocks. They seem to be quite the unusual whales.”
Longtime readers might recall that the Ethics Committee launched its probe into Gaetz roughly two years ago, and the expectation was that the investigation was nearing its end. If the ABC News reporting is accurate, however, the scrutiny is apparently intensifying.
It’s difficult to speculate as to what, if anything, the panel will conclude, but for Gaetz’s critics on Capitol Hill — of which there are many — the Ethics Committee’s examination is of great interest.
Indeed, let’s not forget that as recently as October, Fox News raised a few eyebrows with a report that said House GOP members were “preparing a motion to expel” Gaetz. The report didn’t include any on-the-record comments, and it wasn’t independently verified by other news organizations, but it raised the prospect of a provocative move against a member with a limited number of friends, even on his side of the aisle. Last month, USA Today published a related report, adding that Gaetz “continues to draw the ire of his Republican colleagues … and some of his detractors have privately floated expelling him from Congress.” Given the current legislative arithmetic in the GOP-led chamber, it’s difficult to imagine House Republicans choosing to voluntarily shrink their ranks, but the scuttlebutt served as a timely reminder that the Gaetz investigation is among the most closely watched processes on Capitol Hill. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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