Maddow Blog | GOP’s Matt Gaetz ends cooperation with congressional ethics investigation

As 2023 began, Rep. Matt Gaetz received good news from the Justice Department: Federal investigators had been investigating the Florida Republican as part of a sex trafficking investigation, but prosecutors announced they would not file criminal charges against the congressman.

However, Gaetz still faced an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

The panel first launched an investigation into the Republican lawmaker more than three years ago, but just three months ago members of the committee issued a rare statement saying their original investigation into Gaetz would be expanded.

NBC News reported in June that the bipartisan panel said in a lengthy statement that it was investigating whether Gaetz may have “committed sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts and granted special privileges and favors to people with whom he had a personal relationship.” . and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct.”

There is new reason to believe that the process is still intensifying. CNBC reported:

The congressman, who has long denied any wrongdoing, also said in his written statement that he believes a subpoena from the Ethics Committee was “issued but not served.” Gaetz did not say whether he would comply with the subpoena or not.

He further wrote that the committee asked him earlier this month whether he had “engaged in sexual activity with a person under the age of 18.” According to Gaetz, the answer was “clearly NO.”

The Florida Republican also said – again according to his own version – that he had been asked about illegal drug use. Gaetz’s answer to this was more nuanced.

“I have not used any drugs that are illegal unless there is a law permitting their use in a jurisdiction of the United States,” he wrote, adding: “I have not used any ‘illegal’ drugs that I “Consider illegal for medicinal or medicinal purposes.” -The-counter use anywhere in the United States.”

Just as notably, Gaetz concluded that the House Ethics Committee’s lines of inquiry had become “nosy” and that he would no longer cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

It is difficult to speculate about what the panel will ultimately reach or when it will announce its findings. However, the Ethics Commission’s investigation is of great interest to Gaetz’s critics on Capitol Hill – of whom there are many.

It was a year ago this week that Fox News raised some eyebrows with a report that said House GOP members were “preparing a motion to expel” Gaetz. The report contained no official comments and was not independently verified by other news organizations, but it raised the prospect of a provocative move against a member who had a limited number of friends even on his side of the gang.

Two months later, USA Today published a similar report, adding that Gaetz “continues to draw the ire of his Republican colleagues… and some of his critics have secretly sought to expel him from Congress.”

In other words, as the work of the Ethics Committee continues, much is at stake. Watch this area.

This post updates our relevant previous reporting.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com