Kevin McCarthy Takes One More Shot at Matt Gaetz

When Speaker Emeritus Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from the speakership, it was Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) who initiated the ouster.

Since then, McCarthy has had it out for Gaetz, promising a bombshell ethics report would take him down, so it was no surprise to see McCarthy gloat after Gaetz withdrew from consideration as the Attorney General.

Gaetz Resigns

I knew about the House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz when he was still in office, but I really did not pay it much mind.

I say this because I also knew that the same allegations had been investigated by authorities and no charges had ever been filed.

However, when Gaetz resigned his seat after being nominated, and before being confirmed, I immediately went back to that investigation, especially since the committee was scheduled to meet to vote on making the report public.

When Gaetz resigned, he was no longer under the purview of the committee, so the report never went out, but I believed then and now that something is in that report that would hurt Gaetz.

The Report is Buried

When Gaetz was in the running for AG, even though he was no longer a House member, I stated that I thought, at the very least, the Senate Judiciary Committee responsible for vetting Gaetz as the AG should have the report.

I believe that if there is something out there that can hurt someone, I would rather have it before the appointment than after, when it would hurt the administration.

At the time, it seemed as though the committee was leaning toward sharing the report, as numerous GOP Senators requested access to the report. Then Gaetz withdrew, making everything moot.

Since then, the House has voted to keep the report buried, which I have stated is the right move since Gaetz is no longer in consideration and no longer in public service. Having said that, if Trump appoints Gaetz to a role that does not have to be approved by the Senate, I believe that report should be publicized.

McCarthy Takes His Shot

I always thought McCarthy was the frontrunner for Trump’s Chief of Staff, and I was relieved when Trump went in a different direction. I do not like McCarthy, and have never hidden that fact, and part of the reason is his aloofness and pettiness. To the latter, it was no surprise to see McCarthy gloat at the downfall of Gaetz. McCarthy also ripped Gaetz for lying to Trump about his past. McCarthy stated that the AG appointment was nothing more than a much-needed excuse for Gaetz to resign.

He added, “Well, I blame Matt for lying to the president, ‘cause what Matt needed to get out of Congress before the Ethics report came out on Friday — I don’t believe he told President Trump that. And so, I know the president [was having] a hard time finding who for attorney general.”

McCarthy continued, “He made a motion to remove the Speaker because I wouldn’t stop the Ethics report. … He resigned from Congress two days before the Ethics report became public, trying to get the Ethics report not to go out. I think he would be concerned, probably, what’s in it.”

I tend to agree, which is why I hope Trump steers clear of Gaetz in terms of making him part of this administration. If Trump wants to use Gaetz in the media as a surrogate, fine, but keep him away from this administration because if he brings him back into the fold, he will regret it.