Representative Tom McClintock of California was the sole Republican voting in favor of releasing the House Ethics Committee report on former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, joining 197 Democrats.
The House voted 206-198 to block the release of the ethics report. Gaetz has denied all the allegations investigated by the House Ethics Committee, which included illicit drug use and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl while in office. Gaetz, who resigned from Congress in November, withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, stating that the matter was "unfairly becoming a distraction" for the transition team.
In a statement to CNN, McClintock said: "[The late Supreme Court Justice] Louis Brandeis said it best: 'Sunlight is the best of disinfectants.' This is a public report, prepared with public funds concerning the public conduct of a public official. Of course, the public has a right to see it."
Democratic Representative Sean Casten of Illinois introduced a motion Tuesday to hold a House vote to force the release of the report. The House Ethics Committee met Thursday to discuss the report but did not make a decision on its release.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has previously said the report should not be made public, told CNN after the vote that the debate was a "moot point" since Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress. "I'll leave it up to the committee to do their business there," Johnson added.
Newsweek has contacted McClintock's office, Johnson's office and a spokesperson for Gaetz for further comment via email
Casten criticized the outcome of the vote, saying a majority of the House of Representatives "took the easy way out" by blocking his resolution.
"They could have ensured a vote on whether or not former members should be held accountable when they face serious and credible allegations of sexual misconduct, including having sex with minors," Casten said in a statement.
"Instead, the House voted to sweep these allegations under the rug and set an unfortunate precedent that resigning from Congress can make such problems disappear. I retain options to continue to pursue the release of the Gaetz report."
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Casten urged people to stop calling on the House Ethics Committee to leak the report.
"It is my understanding that women testified with the expectation of privacy. Our resolution today expressly required appropriate redactions to formally protect them in ways that an informal leak may not," Casten wrote.
Since Gaetz is no longer in office, the House technically no longer has jurisdiction over him. The release of an ethics reports after a resignation has occurred in the past, but this is extremely rare.
Gaetz was also the subject of a two-year Department of Justice investigation into allegations that he had sex with a teenage girl and paid for her to travel with him, including across state lines. No charges were brought against Gaetz who denied all the allegations.
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