by Brian Shilhavy, Health Impact News:
President elect Donald Trump has announced that Florida Representative Matt Gaetz is appointed to be the next U.S. Attorney General, and that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is appointed to the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, making these two appointments his most controversial appointments yet.
Matt Gaetz has been under investigation for child sex trafficking in the House of Representatives, and he promptly resigned from the House as soon as Trump appointed him as the AG, just days before a House ethics committee was due to release their findings.
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What happens to the Gaetz House ethics report?
Gaetz, tapped to be Trump’s attorney general, resigns from House days before vote on ethics report release
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from Congress late Wednesday, hours after President-elect Trump nominated him for U.S. Attorney General – and days before a long-awaited House Ethics report was reportedly to be released about him.
Earlier Wednesday, after news broke that Gaetz was chosen for the Trump Cabinet, House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters that their investigation, which had reportedly centered around allegations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use, would end if Gaetz were to step down from Congress.
Gaetz has denied those misconduct allegations.
“This changes nothing,” Guest said in the Capitol, referring to Gaetz’ nomination.
“I’ve been asked, ‘Does this call us to expedite our investigation?’ Once the investigation is complete, then a report will be issued,” Guest said.
“Assuming that at that time, that Mr. Gaetz is still a member of Congress.
If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point.
Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued – that’s not unique to this case.”
Guest said the Justice Department had previously requested the committee “cease and desist” its probe, which the House had since picked back up and was continuing. (Source.)
Pam Martens of Wall Street on Parade reported today that Gaetz has previously been under investigation for child sex trafficking by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which then suddenly dropped the case without explanation.
The DOJ is being sued by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), for failing to honor their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to find out what they had on Gaetz.
According to multiple media reports yesterday, the House Committee on Ethics was planning to vote to release a damning report on Gaetz as soon as this Friday.
Instead, Gaetz resigned from his House seat yesterday after Trump nominated him for Attorney General. This brought about much media speculation as to whether the House Committee on Ethics has lost jurisdiction to release its report.
There is, however, an active federal lawsuit that may shine critical disinfecting sunshine on the matter.
In May of this year, the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington, D.C. to obtain records the DOJ had denied CREW under Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. CREW explained the reasons for the lawsuit as follows:
“CREW is suing the Department of Justice for records related to the now-closed criminal investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, including the DOJ’s decision not to charge Gaetz despite reports suggesting an abundance of evidence that he likely violated sex-trafficking laws, and the conviction of his associate on similar charges. CREW also challenges the legality of the Department of Justice’s policy of categorically denying FOIA requests for records relating to investigations of public officials.
“The lawsuit follows the DOJ’s refusal to release records relating to their investigation of Rep. Gaetz in response to CREW requests for information, as well as a long history of the agency issuing blanket denials of requests for records relating to investigations of public officials, despite a federal appeals court ruling that clearly prohibits such denials. The public deserves to know whether the decision not to prosecute Gaetz was motivated by political considerations or anything other than the sufficiency of evidence against him, and should not be forced to sue for records every time they seek transparency on investigations of public officials.
“The DOJ began its investigation into Gaetz in 2020, focusing on allegations of obstruction of justice and violations of federal sex trafficking laws. Gaetz’s associate Joel Greenberg pled guilty to underage sex trafficking and reportedly provided potentially incriminating information about Gaetz’s involvement to investigators. Gaetz also reportedly asked then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for a preemptive pardon from Trump. In February 2023, the DOJ informed Gaetz that the department would not bring charges against him.
“It is of public interest to understand why a member of Congress was not charged with any crime despite public reporting that suggested that potential crimes had been committed. Transparency around high-profile investigations, including any failures to properly investigate Gaetz, is both required by law and urgently needed.”
Gaetz, if appointed, would oversee the very agency, the DOJ, that was investigating him.
How convenient.
Was this the “secret” Trump referred to when mentioning Gaetz on the campaign trail?
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