Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin called on the House of Representatives to release a previously unreleased report on Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to the Senate. Gaetz is Donald Trump's candidate for the next attorney general of the United States. The House Ethics Committee investigated reports of his alleged sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl.
If Gaetz is ultimately confirmed by the Senate, he will head the prosecutor's office that last year investigated reports of his alleged sexual crimes involving an underage girl. However, the prosecutor's office decided not to bring charges against him.
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Gaetz also had to appear before the House of Representatives Ethics Committee. After Trump named him as his nominee for attorney general, Gaetz resigned from Congress. This automatically ended the procedure before the ethics committee, which was already coming to an end.
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Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, however, demands that the committee's report on Gaetz – despite his departure from the House – be forwarded to the Senate.
“The Senate should have access to it,” Mullin said. When asked whether the content of the report would be made available to the public, he said that “it will be part of the ongoing talks.”
Mullin previously described Gaetz as unprincipled and said Sunday that “Matt Gaetz's story matters.” He also noted that he had not yet decided whether to support the person chosen by Donald Trump candidate. – I will give him a chance, the same as I would give to anyone else – emphasized the congressman.
Senators of the Democratic Party are against Gaetz's election. – The Senate has a constitutional role. We act in an advisory capacity. The president-elect should be able to uphold his election, but this cannot happen to people who do not have the required qualifications or appropriate qualities necessary to fulfill such an important function, said Democratic senator Chris Coons on Fox News Sunday.
Matt GaetzJIM LO SCALZO/PAP/EPA
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Advocate of the MAGA movement
Gaetz is a 42-year-old congressman from Florida who is one of the main advocates of the MAGA movement (short for Make America Great Again – ed.). He is also known for his controversial statements. He was one of the main authors the 2023 ouster of Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy the voices of the far right. McCarthy claimed it was payback for refusing to drop the House Ethics Committee's investigation into allegations he paid for sex with an underage girl.
“He's banned from coming within 100 yards of the school,” McCarthy joked during a briefing at the Republican convention in Milwaukee in July this year.
Although the prosecutors investigating the case did not decide to bring charges against the politician, the ethics committee's investigation has still not been closed.
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The choice of Gaetz – who is also one of the biggest opponents of midfield Ukraine – caused astonishment among some party politicians in Congress. Moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she was “shocked” by Gaetz's nomination and that she would have “many, many questions” about it. Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said it was not a serious candidacy, and Congressman Don Bacon from Nebraska said he had “no good comment.”
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Main photo source: JIM LO SCALZO/PAP/EPA