Gaetz sues Ethics Committee in last-minute bid to block release of report

[LetMyPeopleVote]

This is a really stupid lawsuit

Link to tweet

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Monday filed a lawsuit against the House Ethics Committee in a last-minute attempt to block the panel from releasing its report on the Florida Republican.

Gaetz, who resigned from Congress last month, filed the lawsuit as several outlets reported on leaked drafts of the Ethics Committee’s report, which CNN and CBS say found “substantial evidence” that the ex-congressman violated House rules or Florida state laws that prohibit prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges and obstruction of Congress.

The panel is expected to publicly release the report as early as Monday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., asks a judge to issue an emergency order blocking the report’s release.

Gaetz claims the committee is acting beyond its authority because it has no jurisdiction over him now that he has resigned from Congress. Gaetz’s attorneys said the report contains “untruthful and defamatory information” that would “significantly damage” his reputation.

[LisaL]

1. Well it's too late to close the barn door

after the cow has gone out.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. The ethics report has already leaked

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Here's the 40 page court filing this morning from former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL)

Link to tweet

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.275994/gov.uscourts.dcd.275994.1.0.pdf

[CurtEastPoint]

3. LOL on ""significantly damage" his reputation" As if it could go any lower.... what a creeppervdouchebag

[sakabatou]

15. Gaetz is self-reporting

[Emile]

5. Frivolous lawsuits are a republican trait.

[Think. Again.]

6. Since when do lawsuits happen immediately?

[gab13by13]

7. Nothing to see

Garland had all of that information and dismissed it.

[karynnj]

12. It may be that nothing proved was a federal crime

Some things he did might be state crimes or simply violations of the behavior standard the House requires. At any rate, it could determine whether he is picked for another Trump position or even running in 2026 for the Senate.

[W_HAMILTON]

16. LOL, Gaetz's buddy in these Republican freak-offs pleaded guilty to some of the exact same federal crimes...

...that they could have -- and should have -- charged Gaetz with:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/former-seminole-county-tax-collector-joel-micah-greenberg-pleads-guilty-multiple

[Traildogbob]

8. Sure seems like

Madison’s Cawthorn was pretty factual in his accounts of Congressional orgies and drug parties.
And they were successful in silencing him.💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
And they “Billionaires” that finance the likes of Uncle Clarence do to keep their puppets safe from Their criming of drugs and underage raping.
Ole Maddie got a better outcome than Epstein did.
Ya think ole “Maddie” was questioned by that ethics committee about ole “Mattie”?

[RedWhiteBlueIsRacist]

9. Dear Court: "This report damages my reputation that I damaged."

[ColinC]

10. Judges need to seriously crack down on frivolous lawsuits like this

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. LOL. The court has already pointed out defects in this petition

Link to tweet

And to give you a sense of how rushed this suit was:
1) They forgot to serve DOJ
2) "House OR Representatives"
3) Forgot to make a separate motion for TRO

[bluesbassman]

13. Hey cut him some slack. The crayon box he got from his girlfriend didn't have a sharpener.

Lines get real blurry when you’re doing lines too.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. Gaetz dropped his stupid lawsuit

This was a very stupid lawsuit

Link to tweet

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5054338-gaetz-lawsuit-ethics-report/

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) dropped his eleventh-hour lawsuit seeking to block the release of his House Ethics Committee report since the committee distributed it publicly.

The report, released Monday, found “substantial evidence” that Gaetz paid a 17-year-old high school student for sex when he was 35, used illicit drugs like cocaine and ecstasy and obstructed Congress’s investigation into his conduct.

Gaetz filed a federal lawsuit earlier in the day attempting to block the report’s release, insisting the committee had no jurisdiction over him since the Florida Republican resigned from Congress.

“Due to the Defendant’s unprecedented and procedurally defective decision to publicize the Report that was the subject of Plaintiff’s Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order without notice to Plaintiff and while Defendants’ knew or reasonably should have known of this pending action, Plaintiff has now suffered irreversible and irreparable harm,” Gaetz attorney Jonathan Gross wrote in court filings after the committee made its report public.

“As such, Plaintiff concurs that the instant action has been mooted and the Court now lacks subject matter jurisdiction to order the previously requested relief,” Gross continued.