Top Democrat on Ethics panel says she wants to publish Gaetz report

Rep. Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, said Monday she wants her panel’s report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be released to the public.

“It should certainly be released to the Senate, and I think it should be released to the public, as we have done with many other investigative reports in the past,” she told a small group of reporters.

Both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are pushing for access to the report after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Gaetz to be his attorney general last week. Gaetz resigned from the House hours after the announcement — amid rumors that the Ethics report could be released in the coming days — complicating the decision to publish the findings of the investigation.

The panel investigated several allegations against Gaetz, including that he had sex with a minor. Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Wild (D-Pa.) added that she would wait to see what other members of the panel do before taking any other action. The panel, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, is set to meet Wednesday.

Wild said she discussed the committee’s work with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries “in general terms” but that he “hasn’t seen the report and he hasn’t given me any thoughts or direction or what he thinks needs to be done. He’s deferring entirely to the Ethics Committee, as he should.”