(NewsNation) — A long-awaited ethics report into former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz will be released before Christmas, sources have confirmed to NewsNation.
A House committee considering the report’s release has not announced a timeline for when the report will be released. However, sources told NewsNation that the committee has already voted to release the report in the next week.
Sources have said that the report may be released within the next two days given the timing of the upcoming Christmas holiday.
In response, Gaetz wrote on X, “My 30’s were an era of working very hard – and playing hard too. It’s embarrassing, though not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life. I live a different life now.”
Gaetz resigned after President-elect Donald Trump named the former Florida lawmaker as his pick for Attorney General. Gaetz, however, withdrew his name as the nominee following controversy over him being tabbed by Trump.
In a social media post, Gaetz said it was clear his confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction for the transfer of power over to Trump. Gaetz resigned from his seat in the current Congress once he was nominated and said at the time he would not be sworn into his seat in the upcoming Congress on Jan. 3.
Most Republicans have argued that any congressional probe into Gaetz ended when he resigned from the House. Speaker Mike Johnson also requested that the committee not publish its report, saying it would be a terrible precedent to set.
While ethics reports have previously been released after a member’s resignation, it is extremely rare.
Shortly before the votes took place, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., who introduced one of the bills to force the release, said that if Republicans reject the release, they will have “succeeded in sweeping credible allegations of sexual misconduct under the rug.”
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the claims, including in his social media post after it was learned the ethics committee’s report would soon be released.
This is a developing story. Refresh for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report