House GOP members may expel Matt Gaetz if ethics investigation finds allegations credible

While Rep. Matt Gaetz pushes attempts to vacate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Fox News reports that House GOP members may be prepared to expel Gaetz.

The Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee quietly relaunched its investigation into the Florida congressman in July, CNN reported.

Now House Republican members are prepared to expel Gaetz should the investigation find that Gaetz is guilty of the complaints filed against him, according to Fox News.

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The focus of the investigation involves allegations of sexual misconduct, campaign finance violations, taking bribes, and using drugs.

Gaetz has denied the allegations.

Here’s what to know about Matt Gaetz’s controversies.

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The House Ethics Committee originally launched the investigation in April 2021 when Democrats controlled the House and alongside a federal investigation into whether Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws.

The Department of Justice concluded its sex trafficking investigation without charging him with any crimes in February.

The Justice Department’s investigation was focused primarily on allegations that Gaetz was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.

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The investigation ended over concerns about the credibility of two witnesses, including former Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg, who worked as a former Florida tax collector — and a lack of direct evidence tying Gaetz to the crime.

Greenberg pleaded guilty to six charges, including sex trafficking of a minor, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official as part of a plea agreement in which he promised to cooperate with federal investigators in 2021.

It is unclear if the sexual misconduct allegations being investigated by the House are related to these claims.

Other allegations against Matt Gaetz

The House Committee on Ethics released a statement on April 9, 2021, announcing its investigation into several allegations against Gaetz.

The short brief didn’t go into detail describing the allegations but listed several of them, which included:

• Engaging in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use

• Sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor

• Misusing state identification records

• Converting campaign funds to personal use and/or accepting a bribe, improper gratuity or impermissible gift

Gaetz takes heat from other Republicans

Gaetz has been the center of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus’ threats to remove McCarthy as House speaker during negotiations to pass a bipartisan spending bill to keep the government open.

A last-minute, 45-day stopgap bill passed the House and Senate on Sept. 30, just before a government shutdown, which seemed inevitable, would have gone into effect. Now, both parties have until Nov. 17 to continue negotiations on a more permanent solution.

Many Republicans criticized Gaetz last week, claiming that Gaetz handed Democrats all of the leverage during negotiations.

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Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that “Gaetz is going to work with Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, and the rest of the Democrats in order to remove the Republican speaker… If you remove a Republican speaker, that then puts the Democrats in power, these investigations will be done and stalled. That is unacceptable of Matt Gaetz.”

Former elected Republican and lawyer Erick Erickson on Twitter, now called X, accused Gaetz of prioritizing his “grudge” against McCarthy over passing legislation.

The House Ethics Committee’s report on Gaetz is mostly written, according to Fox News. It isn’t clear when the report’s findings will be made public.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Matt Gaetz controversies could lead to expulsion by House GOP members