A woman told the U.S. House Ethics Committee that she "saw Matt Gaetz, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the U.S. attorney general, have sex with a minor," her lawyer said on Friday, NBC News reported, и reported.
Details
"My client testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Rep. Gaetz having sex with a minor at a house party in Orlando in 2017," said Joel Leppard.
Matt Gaetz, a Republican member of the US House of Representatives, resigned from Congress on Wednesday after Trump announced plans to nominate him for the post of Attorney General, and denied all allegations of sexual harassment.
Leppard said the woman he represents testified before the House Ethics Committee in April.
He said he was representing two witnesses who had testified to the Committee about Gaetz.
"The American people deserve to know the truth about the man who is going to be the country's top law enforcement official," Leppard told NBC News.
ABC News was the first to report that Leppard said his client had testified before the commission.
"Merrick Garland's Justice Department has exonerated Matt Gaetz and not charged him. Are you claiming that Garland is part of a cover-up?" said Gaetz's spokesman on Friday.
The House Ethics Committee investigation was launched in April 2021. It was postponed at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice and resumed in 2023 after the Department withdrew its request for a postponement.
Some Republican senators say they want details of the committee's investigation before voting on the confirmation.
On Friday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to ask the ethics commission not to release its report, saying that since Goetz is no longer in Congress, it would be a "terrible breach of protocol.
The House Ethics Committee, which is bipartisan and consists of 10 members, was scheduled to meet on Friday to discuss the Getz report and whether it should be made public, but the meeting was canceled on Thursday, the source said.
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