JACKSON, Miss (WJTV)  – U.S. House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) condemned the decision to release a report regarding former Representative Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) misconduct on Monday.

Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress in November. Gaetz withdrew from consideration as President-elect Trump’s next Attorney General following reports of reprehensible conduct. Guest shared in a press release that the committee’s decision to publish the report after Gaetz’s resignation broke from committee procedure and sets bad precedent.

On April 9, 2021, the U.S. House Committee announced it was investigating a series of widely reported allegations relating to Gaetz. At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, it deferred its review during the 117th Congress. During the 118th Congress, the U.S. House Committee reauthorized its investigation into the allegations involving then-Representative Gaetz.

In summary, the committee report revealed substantial evidence of the following:

• From at least 2017 to 2020, Representative Gaetz regularly paid women for
  engaging in sexual activity with him.
• In 2017, Representative Gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl.
• During the period 2017 to 2019, Representative Gaetz used or possessed illegal
  drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, on multiple occasions.
• Representative Gaetz accepted gifts, including transportation and lodging in
  connection with a 2018 trip to the Bahamas, above permissible amounts.
• In 2018, Representative Gaetz arranged for his Chief of Staff to assist a woman
  with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating
  to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent.
• Representative Gaetz knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the
  Committee’s investigation of his conduct.
• Representative Gaetz has acted in a manner that reflects discreditably upon the
  House.

According to documents, Gaetz refused to answer any questions regarding his relationships and allegations with the 15 women that he made payments to.

Chairman Guest’s statement read in part:

“I believe, have publicly stated, and remain steadfast in the position that the House Committee on Ethics lost jurisdiction to release to the public any substantive work product regarding Mr. Gaetz after his resignation from the House on November 14, 2024.

While I do not challenge the Committee’s findings, I did not vote to support the release of the report and I take great exception that the majority deviated from the Committee’s well-established standards and voted to release a report on an individual no longer under the Committee’s jurisdiction, an action the Committee has not taken since 2006.”

Representative Michael Guest (R-Miss.)