‘It’s disgusting’: suburban congressman who pushed for Gaetz report’s release reacts to its accusations
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove
A suburban congressman who pushed for the House Ethics Committee to publicize the findings of its investigation into now-former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz called the actions depicted in the report “horrific” and “disgusting.”
“There are no words to describe how gross this is,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove said in a telephone interview Monday morning, hours after the report was released.
The 37-page document accuses Gaetz, a Republican from Florida’s panhandle, of “regularly” paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, for sex and purchasing and using illicit drugs while a member of Congress.
The findings conclude Gaetz violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office. He hasn’t been criminally charged.
The report’s release comes after at least one Republican joined all five Democrats on the panel earlier this month in a secret vote to release the report about their former colleague despite initial opposition from GOP lawmakers.
Gaetz resigned from Congress in November after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him for attorney general. The resignation put Gaetz outside the ethics committee’s jurisdiction.
The controversy over the ethics committee’s investigation grew, however, and Gaetz eventually withdrew from consideration and said he wouldn’t return to Congress.
That wasn’t enough for Casten, who on Monday said he believes Gaetz resigned from the House only to block the report’s release.
Last month, Casten led 97 House Democrats — including most of the other members of the suburban delegation — in a letter to the ethics committee requesting the immediate release of the report. In early December, Casten tried to force the document’s release by introducing a resolution that, if it had been successful, would have required the full House to vote on the matter.
After the report’s widespread publication Monday, Casten — who saw the document for the first time Monday, along with the rest of the nation — said he’s glad “the majority of the members of the House ethics committee decided to be ethical.”
“Ethics really, really matters,” Casten said. “It matters in all walks of life, and it especially matters in Congress.”
Casten said releasing the report sends a message to every member of Congress, present and future, “that we hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville was among the Democrats who signed Casten’s letter requesting the report be released. In a statement issued Monday, Foster said the ethics committee did its job — protecting the integrity of the U.S. House.
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster
As for Gaetz, Foster said the former lawmaker “should never have been nominated to be Attorney General or any other position of public trust.”
While Gaetz may not be prosecuted for the crimes the ethics committee says he committed, Casten believes he’ll face consequences in different ways. The report could affect future employment opportunities, for example, Casten said.
“There is some larger sense of justice that will be done,” Casten said.
· Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.
