Earlier today, the House Ethics Committee suddenly reversed course, deciding to release its report on Matt Gaetz after previously saying they would keep it private.
And Gaetz is not taking this without a fight…
In a post on X, Matt Gaetz, who resigned from Congress after being nominated as President Trump’s Attorney General, detailed plans to re-join the House in order to expose his former colleague’s secret ‘MeToo’ settlements that were paid for using taxpayer funds.
After everything is out in the open, Gaetz would then resign once again.
Here’s what Gaetz posted:
Someone suggested the following plan to me:
1. Show up 1/3/2025 to congress
2. Participate in Speaker election (I was elected to the 119th Congress, after all…)
3. Take the oath
4. File a privileged motion to expose every “me too” settlement paid using public funds (even of…— Former Congressman Matt Gaetz (@FmrRepMattGaetz) December 18, 2024
The Daily Beast reported:
Matt Gaetz wants to throw one last grenade at his critics in Congress on his way out the door, the Daily Beast has learned.
The firebrand conservative is threatening to return to the House on Jan. 3 to expose certain lawmakers caught up in the “Me Too” movement—retaliation for the House Ethics Committee voting to release its report on the ex-Florida lawmaker’s child sex-trafficking allegations.
Gaetz, who resigned from his House seat last month during an uphill battle to become Donald Trump’s next attorney general, told the Beast he is “seriously considering” briefly returning on the first day of the new 119th Congress. His return would involve forcing a vote on a resolution to rip the lid off secretive “Me Too” settlements made by current and former lawmakers using taxpayer dollars.
Gaetz resigned his seat after winning reelection in 2024 to return to represent Florida’s first congressional district in the House. He first proposed the idea of a surprise return on X Wednesday.
Mediaite added:
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) may not yet be done inciting chaos in Congress.
In the wake of Wednesday’s surprising report that the House Ethics Committee had taken a secret vote to release its investigatory report into Gaetz’s conduct, the former congressman first replied with defiance — insisting he had been “FULLY EXONERATED” and his behavior had merely been “embarrassing, though not criminal” — before taking an even more aggressive stance.
In November, Gaetz was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next attorney general and resigned from Congress before dropping his bid. The Florida firebrand’s alleged entanglement in a sprawling series of schemes and crimes — including accusations about illegal drug use, bribes, and allegations he sexually trafficked a 17-year-old girl — brought a lot of noise to his nomination path, already rocky because of the many bridges he burned with his GOP congressional colleagues.
A House Ethics Committee investigation had been opened into the allegations and rumors about the “highly damaging” contents of the committee’s report have been swirling for months. Gaetz denied all wrongdoing but did eventually step aside for Trump to pick another Floridian, the state’s former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Gaetz did win re-election to his seat in the November elections but announced that he did not intend to return to Congress and instead head to One America News Network for a new gig as an anchor on the pro-Trump cable channel.
What do you think about Matt Gaetz’s plan?
Many people are praising his idea on X:
It’s giving “chaos”
— Natalie Winters (@nataliegwinters) December 18, 2024
Name every single person who paid money for sexual harassment claims! AIR THEM OUT!
— Christy Kelly (@Kelly4Humanity) December 18, 2024
Others like the plan, except for the last part…
Why would you resign again? President Trump needs all the support he can get in the House with such a narrow margin.
— LivePDDave (@LivePDDave1) December 18, 2024
Hey @FmrRepMattGaetz I fixed it for you!!!! We need someone to fight for We The People!!!!! #SpeakerGaetz has a nice ring to it!! #MattGaetzForSpeaker pic.twitter.com/MNqRASa7NE
— Byron Dodd GARBAGE MAN!! (@FUXJOEBIDEN) December 18, 2024
Matt,
COME BACK
America NEEDS YOU in Congress
No one fights like YOU do
DO NOT RESIGNhttps://t.co/QsOHA7Oap4
— Jill O’Shannon (@JillOShannon2) December 18, 2024