GOP's Matt Gaetz ends cooperation with congressional ethics probe

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was cooperating with an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation. That was before he deemed the probe "nosy."

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gops-matt-gaetz-ends-cooperation-congressional-ethics-probe-rcna173008

NBC News reported in June that the bipartisan panel said in a lengthy statement that it was examining whether Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”

There’s fresh reason to believe the process is still intensifying. CNBC reported:

Rep. Matt Gaetz said Thursday that he has learned the House Ethics Committee will subpoena him as it investigates whether the Florida Republican engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor or illicit drug use. Gaetz, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, made the statement in an angry letter to the Ethics Committee that declared he will “no longer voluntarily participate” in the panel’s probe.

The congressman, who has long denied any wrongdoing, also said in his written statement that he believes an Ethics Committee subpoena has been “issued, but not served.” Gaetz did not offer an indication as to whether he would comply with the subpoena or not....

It’s difficult to speculate as to what, if anything, the panel will ultimately conclude, or when it might announce its findings. That said, for Gaetz’s critics on Capitol Hill — of which there are many — the Ethics Committee’s examination is of great interest.

It was a year ago this week when Fox News raised a few eyebrows with a report that said House GOP members were “preparing a motion to expel” Gaetz. The report didn’t include any on-the-record comments, and it wasn’t independently verified by other news organizations, but it raised the prospect of a provocative move against a member with a limited number of friends, even on his side of the aisle.

Two months later, USA Today published a related report, adding that Gaetz “continues to draw the ire of his Republican colleagues ... and some of his detractors have privately floated expelling him from Congress.”

In other words, as the Ethics Committee’s work continues, the stakes are high. Watch this space.

[-misanthroptimist]

1. Turns out that Matt left his ethics...

...in his other pants in his previous existence.

[Grammy23]

2. Just keep digging and probing the guy.

He doth protest a bit too much. He is slime and deserves to be found out. It grieves me to be in his district. One day…..waiting a little impatiently … his luck will run out. And his days of riding high will come crashing down around his ears. Daddy won’t be able to save him.