♪ host: good morning from washington. the house ethics committee met behind closed doors on its

investigation into matt gaetz, president-elect trump's pick for attorney general. the committee cannot agree on releasing the commission report. your reaction to the committee's work and if you believe the former congressman should serve as attorney general. join the conversation by dialing in this morning. democrats, (202) 748-8900. you can join us and it text -- we will get your take on this this morning. joining us is michael snow --

michael, tell us what was happening behind closed doors at the ethics committee yesterday. guest: the house ethics committee met behind closed doors yesterday and the capitol for roughly two hours. i'm told from a source that one of the things discussed in this report and the matt gaetz, the committee held a vote to release the report as is. that failed along party lines. the committee took another vote releasing the exhibits as part of the report into matt gaetz. that also failed along party lines. there was a third vote to complete the report, a procedural thing that has to happen when you deal with an ethics investigation. that one passed with bipartisan support. we are expecting the committee to meet again on december 5.

that date was announced by susan wild, the ranking democrat on the house ethics committee. the pressure is still mounting on the panel to release the report as matt gaetz continues to go through the confirmation process for attorney general. host: matt gaetz was on capitol hill meeting with senators yesterday. what was happening on that side of the capitol? guest: the house ethics committee meeting about whether or not to release this sprawling report. the investigation has been going on for three years down. on the other side of the capitol , the congressman was crisscrossing different congressional offices, meeting with senators to talk about his confirmation. this is something that always happens when you have a presidential nominee and the confirmation in the senate, they meet with the individual senators to discuss the confirmation.

this would happen in a different context. the house ethics committee was debating whether to release the report. number of senators have also called on the ethics committee to release this report because they want to look at the findings before weighing in on matt gaetz's confirmation. things look dicey but nonetheless the president's team and former congressman plowing ahead with this nomination. matt gaetz was talking to senators yesterday. host: there has been weeks of what the committee found out. how does the ethics committee normally conduct their work and what do we know? guest: the ethics committee is typically -- typically conducts its business in secrecy. it is meant to be that the committee does not release its on members. it is supposed to be a bipartisan place on capitol hill and the secret place. there has been a number of leaks. there have been some leaks from lawyers of witnesses who have

spoken to the committee going to the news outlets to talk about what their witnesses had testified. we have seen leaks from other areas. matt gaetz has been investigated by a slew of folks. it is pretty rare for the ethics committee. they typically conduct business in private, in secrecy. they don't like for things to leak. they like to do their investigation in that manner. the situation has blown up because matt gaetz was always a controversial figure on capitol hill, something that solidified after he was in charge of ousting kevin mccarthy. now he's nominee for attorney general. there are questions among lawmakers did matt gaetz resign his seat early in an effort to stop the ethics report from coming out. the ethics committee does not have jurisdiction over former members of congress.

there is some history of them releasing reports on former members after they have departed congress. some questions there if he left early to thwart the report. a lot of new things we have been seeing in terms of the ethics committee with this situation involving matt gaetz. host: what are the details? guest: we have heard from lawyers representing women who have spoken to the committee that those women saw matt gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old. those women -- they testified they did receive money from matt gaetz for sex. we recently saw yesterday a report from the new york times the doj and its investigation of matt gaetz had a web of transactions, monetary transactions between matt gaetz and other individuals, including some women. we are starting to get a sense of potential he with the committee was looking at. it is possible the committee has a lot of these materials.

what evidence is behind these allegations. we have been hearing allegations about matt gaetz for some time now. the house ethics committee investigation has been going on since 2021, roughly three years on-and-off. the department of justice, the agency matt gaetz now wants to lead was investigating him for some time. they decided not to press charges. there was a report it was because there was concern among prosecutors that the witnesses could not stand up to credibility before trial. we have seen these leaks for a while. we are getting a picture of what is behind the allegations. matt gaetz does deny any wrongdoing. he is still charging ahead with this confirmation process, meeting with senators just as recently as yesterday. host: donald trump says he stands by his nomination of matt gaetz. what is the outline for moving forward with this confirmation? look at happen in the new

congress when they convene in january? guest: there is a high-stakes month until we get to that conversation about potential confirmation hearing about. the house ethics committee is scheduled to meet on december 5. i spoke to a source who suggested members left with the understanding the report would be ready by the time they met on december 5, suggesting they may hold a vote on releasing report then. that will be a key date to watch. yesterday there were two cats who moved to force a vote on resolution to compel the ethics committee to release its report into matt gaetz. there is one example of this happening in 1986. house democrats try to force the ethics committee through a resolution to release its for lemon every findings on then speaker newt gingrich. that effort failed. we will see what happens with those two resolutions from those house democrats. it was brought to the floor as a privileged solution.

leadership has to act on the measure within two legislative days. that is today. it could happen today. possibly unlikely. lawmakers are leaving town for the thanksgiving recess. they will have to do that when they return after the recess. that is another time to watch. we continue to watch the conversation about the report. what would happen likely in january for you see matt gaetz, as is customary for all presidential nominees, to have a confirmation hearing in the senate and the all-important vote on whether or not he would be confirmed to the cabinet. host: what about a recess appointment? guest: this is a conversation floating around on capitol hill. a lot of uncertainty surrounding recess appointments. a lot of folks are trying to figure out what the constitutional law is here. what would happen for it to take place. it's definitely a possibility, something we have seen president-elect trump demand when the senate gop leader race

was going on. trump said whoever is the next leader has to agree to use recess appointments. definitely a possibility on the table. there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding that. what it looks like constitutionally and what appetite there is for that among lawmakers on capitol hill. something to dig into but deftly something to continue talking about. host: you are part of the swarm of reporters that was covering the story yesterday outside of the committee room where the house ethics committee met. there was a lot of reporters gathered waiting to get word from anyone of these members of congress. i want to show viewers what happened when the chair of that committee left the committee yesterday after they took the votes you were talking about. [video] >> [indiscernible]

>> are you going to release it to the senate? >> there has been no agreement to release. >> have they requested it? >> [indiscernible] >> is there a vote? >> excuse me. host: that was the scene yesterday after the chair had left the proceedings. he was walking over to one of the house office buildings. that video from scott long of nbc. describe the scene. guest: chaotic. that's probably the best way to put it. we had been camped outside the

house ethics committee room for about two hours. we know there is a lot of business going on behind there. the committee is known for conducting its business in secrecy. we wanted to get any ounce of information we could from any of those members who walked out. chairman guest was the other one who spoke. he said there had been no agreement to release the report. they would continue to meet. we had more questions and he was not answering them. that brief statement prompted a response from susan wild, the top democrat on the committee, who came out shortly after and delivered a statement of behalf of all democrats on the ethics committee and said i don't want you to think from what michael guest said that there was you know minsk agreement for us to not release the report -- there was unanimous agreement for us not to release the report. it was along party lines.

susan wild saying there are five democrats and five republicans on this panel. we need at least one of those republicans to vote for it. we need a majority vote. that did not happen today. going into this meeting susan wild said they wanted the report to be released. again, the committee has always conducted its business in secrecy. we are trying to get tidbits from all over the place. it was interesting to see susan wild follow him was such a strong response about the remarks -- the brief remarks that were given. host: you can follow her reporting if you go to thehill.com and follow on x. mychaelsnell on x and at the hill. guest: thank you for having me. host: let's get to the discussion with olivia. cal in maryland, democratic

caller. what do you think? caller: i think this is major gas lighting. i want to preface this by saying i'm an academic. i was formerly a police officer. i hope to become a practicing attorney. how do i teach american's children -- america's children about social justice being ethical and all that important stuff in the wings at the top are scoundrels? -- ones at the top are scoundrels? matt gaetz should be charged with child pornography. even if you don't get him for prostitution, moving people across state lines for sexual reasons, he showed pornography of a child on the house floor. the last thing i want to say and thank you for taking my comment,

the folks on the democrats side but mostly on the republican side will get on this call and talk about how they want justice and what is right and what is moral. america is yet to give african-americans reparations for not only the crimes they committed during slavery but thereafter up into the present. host: john from new york, independent. we are talking about this ethics report, releasing it on capitol hill and his nomination to serve as attorney general. caller: i expect this to go on for months, especially with the washington journal. every day for five days you had a segment on it. you are talking about ethics violations. could you please inform your audience about eric swalwell, christine tang? he put her on his staff. she was a chinese spy. she was spying on him.

he was going out on dates with her. he had -- she was spying on of the representatives. there was another violation by been hard -- ben hardin. they filled the sex act in one of the halls in congress, the house, where they were running the january 6 committee. they had that on tape. it went viral. you had another representative, new house, one of his staff numbers was sitting in his office. he was doing sex acts that also went viral but that was under the rug so fast. swalwell did not get fired. cardin did not get fired for the acts. newhouse, i think he is still there. no big uproar -- host: do you think the reports

and allegations should be disclosed for the public to review for themselves, including this report by the ethics committee on matt gaetz? caller: do i what? host: do you think this report on allegations, like the ones against matt gaetz and others, should be open for the public to review? caller: that's all. host: patricia, ohio, republican. caller: hello. i have a question. my understanding is, congress pays out for taxpayer money about complaints against congress. i would like to know that should be released. host: that is patricia's thoughts and ohio. john from st. louis, missouri. democratic caller. caller: i know the law and i'm positive that matt gaetz is not

going to be the attorney general. donald trump is not going to be 47. why? because of january 6, people. all these charges he has put off and put often put off. over the summer i see democrats celebrating because i watch too much c-span. i'm sorry. host: solomon in silver spring, maryland. independent. what do you say about this debate? caller: i think it should be released. on the last caller, he's a teacher. how is he going to teach the young ones about public ethics when we have leaders in the public arena -- a ghost of

the parliamentarians. -- it goes to the parliamentarians. the leaders elect their own leaders instead of -- whether they are republicans or democrats. people are going to be objective. they are going to be ethical. we will not look at america as a model state. we look at america as a model state of democracy, institutions and justice. i say let it be released. if the public decides [indiscernible] host: solomon in maryland breaking up a little bit. as mychael snell told you, susan wild came back to that scrum of reporters after leaving the closed door meeting, after the votes to clarify the

democrats' position of the committee. five democrats, five republicans on this panel. they act in a bipartisan way. here is what she had to say. [video] >> we concluded a two hour meeting of the ethics committee. it was not my intention to make any comment. i walked out of this committee without making went and walked back to my office. it has since come to my attention that -- we agreed we were not going to discuss what had transpired at the meeting. it has come to my attention that the chairman has since betrayed the process by disclosing our deliberations within moments after walking out of the committee. he has implied there was an agreement of the committee not to disclose the report. that is an untrue -- to the

extent that suggest that the committee was an agreement or we had consensus on that, that is inaccurate. i will say a vote was taken, as many of you know. this committee is evenly divided between democrats and republicans. which means in order to affirmatively move something forward somebody just across party lines and vote with the other side, which happens a lot. we often vote unanimously. that did not happen in today's vote. i do not want the american public or anyone else to think that mr. guest's characterization of what transpired would be some sort of indication the committee had consensus on this issue.

that would be an an accurate portrayal and no one to take that for what they have heard so far. there was no consensus on this issue. we did agree we would reconvene as a committee on december 5 to further consider this matter. the statement i have just made is on behalf of all the democratic members of the ethics committee. host: congresswoman susan wild, the top democrat on the house ethics committee addressing what the committee did behind closed doors yesterday on this investigation and to matt gaetz and whether or not -- and the matt gaetz and whether or not he paid for sex. from lawyers who represented the women at these parties that he attended and paid for sex allegedly. one of the women was 17 years old. while that was happening on one side of the capitol, across the capitol at the senate matt gaetz meeting with senators

ahead of what he hopes to be a confirmation hearing about him serving as the attorney general at the justice department. donald trump has chosen him for that position. reporters caught up with the former congressman matt gaetz in the hallways of the congress yesterday. here is what he had to say. [video] >> i'm looking forward to a hearing. they have been supportive saying we will get a fair process. it is a great day of momentum for the trump administration. >> any reaction from the ethics committee saying they will not release a report? >> i'll be honest with you, i have been focused on what we have to do to reform the department of justice. i have been meeting with senators and have not been paying much attention to that. i have not talked to the president today. i had a great time with the vice president elect talking about how we will end weaponization at the department of justice. we will tackle fentanyl.

we will ensure we do not have the doj involved in censorship anymore and make sure we get the country back on track and are there for president trump's fulfillment of his promises on immigration. >> are you confident you can get confirmed by the senate? >> it was a great day. >> for meetings today? -- more meetings today? >> yes. host: from punch bowl news, a gaetz confirmation vote is likely to month away if it happens. an eternity in fast-moving situations like this. gop senators who support gaetz are wondering will end up wasting precious time and political capital on a toxic candidate for many now believe is on confirmable -- unconfirmable. gaetz cannot afford to lose three votes, far more than the number has indicated privately they oppose gaetz. some of gaetz's supporters think

most of those holdouts aren't persuadable. gaetz's opponents have quietly discussed reaching out to president-elect trump and asking for the nomination to be withdrawn. susan collins and lisa murkowski are the obvious possibilities of no votes. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell could also be in that group. mcconnell will not be in leadership anymore and will be freed from the accompany political pressure. that's from punch bowl news this morning. patty in houston, texas. democratic caller. caller: how are you? i'm so glad i got on the phone. one thing -- this is a dictator. this man was a democrat, they would have already did that. they would be back,

back-and-forth. -- back-and-forth, back-and-forth. he should not assault a 17-year-old. he should not even be up for grabs. i am hoping they would go on and fill him up and get somebody else. it seems like republicans can do whatever you want to do. like trump. he is president. this is just not right. if it had been biden president obama, if he had did that he would never have made president. host: we will go to george in west virginia, republican. what do you think? caller: thanks for taking my call. a couple of years since i called. the doj, they decided to not prosecute him.

so far, gaetz has been accused of this, not, you know, convicted of anything. i was listening to newsmax or newsnation or one of the other programs. one of the congressman or congresswoman or senators suggested if they release this, they should release all the other ethics reports on all the other lawmakers. she said there was a slush fund -- i thought she said -- that was used to pay off the accusations against lawmakers. i was wondering while i'm on the line because i don't call much if you could look up how many past residents -- president --

the numbers they have deported. i understood clinton had deported more -- host: stick to the topic now for this part of the washington journal this morning. dee in baltimore, democratic caller. caller: hello. good morning. what i wanted to say is i don't understand for the life of me -- i see people calling with things that don't make sense but they are allowed. it is shameful we have all these men with sexual assaults. this is dangerous, this type of behavior and congress or even to think about it. we don't think about the victims. let it go, let it go. even with the president-elect. it is shameful. he is going up for attorney general, a law enforcement position. he can go to reform the attorney

general -- the other law enforcement officers so he will not be prosecuted further down the line? no, he should not be coming in with any type of clouds over his head. p is law enforcement officer, one of the highest ones. the way he used to act in the house of representatives, he should never touch any type of leadership position. he was shameful when he was in the house of representatives. that guy who was a part of that, his friend, has been convicted and is in jail for the same thing. i don't know why the doj did not -- host: prosecute. caller: prosecute him. we don't know why. maybe we need to know why. who knew about it? when you are talking about child trafficking [indiscernible] going to court for child trafficking and sex charges against minors. all of a sudden, this man is

walking free trying to be an attorney general? this is unbelievable. host: dee, do you agree with some senator sasse at the justice department -- the democrats on the panel led by dick durbin, the current chair of the committee -- he will not be the chair come january. republicans will take over. for now, democrats are saying we need to see the justice department investigation. caller: yes. we cannot confirm this man with this cloud over his head. sex offenses are serious things. we need to take it for the seriousness it is. continuing to make excuses for this behavior is wrong. we have to get a grip on these charges. it appears that all the nominees, at least two or three of them, they are men who have sexual offense allegations against the. is this going to be the new normal?

american people, answer the question. is this going to be the new normal? no. host: let's listen to senator cory booker, democrat of new jersey, a member of the judiciary committee responding to white democrats from that panel have requested the justice department's documents. [video] >> we have a constitutional requirement to advise and consent. we need all the information. taxpayers paid for that report. instead of us being duplicitous and costing taxpayers considerable amounts of money, let's just share the report across the capitol. we do that all the time for other candidates dealing with things in a sensitive manner. we should have all the information before we consider someone to be the top law enforcement officer in the united states of america. host: that is cory booker. the wall street journal reports it is against fbi practice

to provide files to congress in part because it is generally illegal to share grand jury material. officials often have other concerns about identifying witnesses and exposing law enforcement tactics. the fbi said it received a letter and declined to comment further. tim in michigan, republican. welcome to the conversation. caller: good morning. i was listening. i watch every day now for a while and it's funny because the democrats do the same thing that the rotation -- republicans do so no one gets anywhere with the situation at hand. it is just a big pile of dung that nobody actually -- a keeps getting stirred and stirred and stirred. the investigations we got going on right now, we've got probably

50 of them. none of them has been resolved in the last eight or 10 years. host: do you think the public should see not just this matt gaetz investigation but they should see all the investigations by the ethics committee and it should not be behind closed doors? caller: my argument was a whole show. if i can say i know that you went out -- this is just hypothetical -- if i say i know you went out and you slept around on your husband and i can make that statement and i can say, well, this is what happened and everything like that, you have to, you know, say i'm innocent. ok? if i say that and i charge you

without, how do i know -- with that, how do i know? i know i'm in the wrong for saying that but it doesn't matter. it is out there. it is not good. host: let's listen to the speaker mike johnson who was opposed to the ethics committee releasing the report. this is what he had to say on sunday. [video] >> i don't know anything about the contents of the report. the speaker the house can't put a thumb on the scale or be involved in an ethics committee report. i do know the comments about this being a president for releasing reports is not accurate. there are two breaches of the tradition in the past under various ordinary circumstances. i do think this meets the criteria. matt gaetz is a colleague of mine. we have been serving for more than eight years. he's one of the brightest minds in washington or anywhere. he knows everything about how the department of justice has

been weaponized and misused. he will be a reformer. that is why the establishment is so shaken up about this pick. with regard to the report, there is a very important reason for the tradition and rule we have almost always followed. we don't issue investigations and ethics reports on people who are not members of congress. i'm afraid that would open a pandora's box. the jurisdiction of the ethics committee is limited to those who are serving in the institution, that is the purpose. this would be a breach of protocol that can be dangerous for us going forward in the future. host: that was the speaker on sunday saying he opposed the idea of the ethics committee releasing this report. the committee met behind closed doors and could not come to an agreement. they were split along party lines about whether or not to release the report. they did vote to complete it and are going together again in early december. according to a reporter for the

hill, the committee will have this report done by the time they meet again. there could be another vote on whether or not to release it. all that happening ahead of any confirmation hearings and votes over on the senate side for attorney general. president-elect donald trump picking matt gaetz delete that agency -- to lead that agency. abc news reporting democrats on the house side tried to force the ethics committee to release the gaetz report. sean casten of illinois offering a privileged resolution, two of them yesterday. here's a portion of his remarks. [video] >> the form of the resolution is as follows. house resolution directing the committee on ethics of the house of representatives to release to the public the committee's report on its investigation into allegations against former representative matt

gaetz. whereas 2021, the committee of ethics announced it had begun to review allegations that representative matt gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, share inappropriate images or videos on the house floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds for personal use and accepted a bribe, and proper gratuity or impermissible gift in violation of the rules of the house, laws or other standards of conduct. whereas the committee on ethics of the house of a preventative's has completed its review into the allegations pursuant to committee rules 14a3 and 18a that representative gaetz may have accepted improper gifts, dispense social privileges and favors to individuals, and sought to obstruct government investigations into his conduct. whereas on november 13, 2024,

president-elect donald trump announced his nomination of former representative matt gaetz to serve as attorney general. whereas on november 13, 2020 four, representative matt gaetz announced his resignation from congress. whereas there is precedent for the committee on ethics of the house of representatives to release reports on former members of the house of representatives should information in those reports remain relevant to the function of congress. whereas the decision by the committee on ethics of the house of representatives not to release the report on its investigation into the serious allegations against former representative matt gaetz impedes the ability of the senate to provide advice and consent on this nomination, and whereas a failure of the committee on ethics of the house of representatives to release its reports on its investigation impedes the dignity and integrity of the legislative proceedings of the house. host: democrat sean casten

offering a privileged resolution to force the house ethics committee to release the report on matt gaetz. the conservative wall street journal editorial board, their opinion this morning. the house ethics report on matt gaetz. for understandable reasons the norm is that such ethics inquiries are closed quietly if lawmakers step down. mr. gaetz operably quit last week hours after mr. trump announced his nomination for ag. the committee was dazed from releasing its investigation -- days from releasing its investigation. it's one thing when the lawmaker resigns and goes back to private life. this looks more like an effort to dodge accountability by getting a promotion. thank you want to say this. even without the house report, the senate could call the same witnesses to testify as senator john cornyn, a republican of texas, suggested this week.

"in order to do our job we need to get access to all the information. but also to protect the president against any surprises that might damage his administration. the senate would be justified in sticking to that line, whatever the political pressures mr. trump might bring to bear for a speedy gaetz confirmation." there are other republican senators you say they should be able to look at this ethics report on matt gaetz. what do all of you say? rob in new york, independent. caller: before i made this telephone call i would like to say i went to the library and did my due diligence on the advice and consent clause. i would like to say the consent part of that phrase means an informed consent. the senate needs to be fully informed and they most do their

constitutional duty. going back in history there was a time when the senate stood in recess or an adjournment but there were also a few senators that stayed behind while their fellow senators traveled home. they state back in washington to provide the president with advice and consent in the event that something came up requiring it. the senate has a constitutional duty to be fully informed. whether they are informed and a public forum -- in a public forum or an executive session where they are permitted to be fully informed by reviewing the

report remains to be determined. whether this man is still in the house or not does not act as a shield against the senate being fully informed. thank you. host: rob, independent in new york. markwayne mullin of oklahoma agreeing with you that, according to the west and examiners reporting, looking into the report is outlined in the constitution under the advice and consent rule. let's go to joann in nevada, republican. caller: hi. nobody heard with reported headset when the department of justice, top law enforcement, said the witnesses were not credible. that is why they did not go through with the case.

what do you people think? you know? you have her right there in your face. you are just pushing a bunch of crap out here. william in pennsylvania -- ohio, democratic caller. caller: good morning, greta. this is the old dumb 89-year-old true hillbilly. yes, i think he should be released. i him so disgusted with this corrupt -- the biggest waste of taxpayer money is paying these crooked-ass politicians their salary. i feel so sorry for my little great grandkids that don't have a chinaman's chance in hell thanks to donald trump's tariffs.

everything is messed up because of trump's tariffs. wait until he comes again shortly. i'm thankful i don't have that much longer to go. i do worry about my little grandkids and great grandkids. thank you, greta. host: mark in pennsylvania, republican. your turn. caller: good morning. i totally opposed them releasing the report. they should have done it long before this if they wanted to do this. as soon as they find some salacious details they want to smear everybody. they did it with trump and this guy. anytime they don't like somebody this is how they do it. it is disgusting. the republicans always play along with it. they are the only party that will stick the gun and their malls and shoot themselves in the head. let me give you an example of this advising consent nonsense. there have been only three they rejected for confirmation. out of all the times -- going to

senate.gov to find this information. they only did seven and the entire history of this country. -- in the entire history of this country. they found they broke the law straight up. we know he didn't. why do we have to drag this guy through the mud. this was consensual sex. the lawyer for both parties, both women, which the senate would hear was on one of the shows yesterday or the day before. he told us the girls frequently these parties. it was not a one-off thing. they did this over and over, dozens of times. this was not something that was illegal. they made rational choices, consensual sex. whether matt gaetz participated or not is irrelevant. it is not against the law to have sex with a woman. i know the issue is she was 17. she went back multiple times. this is not a child doing this.

host: what about paying for it? caller: paying for it. i don't know. that allegation -- the guy that was supposed friends with matt gaetz actually did most of the paying. women when they are younger they don't have a lot of money to go to parties and guys send the money all the time for doing stuff. maybe they want to hang out with them and they can't get there or they give the money to fix the car. it is almost like a full-time job for some of these girls. host: how do you know that? caller: i know younger women. i have daughters and stuff that have done that to guys. other women do that to guys. it is a big thing out there on the internet. they are friends with guys on the phone. they say i want to meet up with you but i don't have money to get to this thing. send me some. host: front page of the new york times on this payment. federal investigators

established a trail of payments from matt gaetz, president-elect donald trump's choice to be attorney general to women who testified that mr. gaetz hired them for sex. this is according to a document obtained by the new york times. a lawyer representing some of the women. the document assembled by investigators during his three-year sex trafficking inquiry into mr. gaetz is a chart that shows a web of thousands of dollars of vendor payments between mr. -- venmo payments between gaetz and women. this is according to testimony that participants are said have given to investigators. that is the new york times reporting. this was the headline from wednesday, february 15, 2023. doj officially decides not to charge matt gaetz in sex trafficking probe. that was decided back in february of 2023.

alan in stanley, virginia. independent. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. a few quick comments. first of all, you know, this report is irrelevant. i say this because the majority of the people in this country, the senate, the house and congress elected trump. a president should have the right to select who he wants. again, we are back to the same old democratic game. i just heard your senator stick earlier. you know what? i would like to check their records and see what they do. as far as matt gaetz, he did not do anything illegal. the justice department already said that. the investigation is completed. this is about going on and on and on and why they can't give et what they want. we just had an election.

we set under -- sat under biden and harris for four years and got nothing. now we attack people we don't know much about. you lost. you lost the election. it's over. you have a chance in two years. you have a chance in four years. until then, take a nap. have a nice day. host: front page of the usa today. texas offers border sites to detain immigrants. on tuesday, the texas land commissioner don buckingham offered trump a 1400 acre ranch near the border in south texas to host a mass deportation facility. buckingham brought the -- bought the ranch early this year because the previous owner refused to let texas build a border wall across it. that is the front page of usa today. there is also this story in the wall street journal.

food industry girds for deportation push. america's food supply chain lies on immigrant workforce for some of the most challenging jobs such as picking fruit, applying pesticides on crops, operating machinery and slaughtering livestock. about two thirds of the u.s. crop farmworkers are foreign-born. 42% are not legally authorized to work in the country. that is in the wall street journal this morning. there is also this front page of the washington times. shot in the arm, with a picture of r.o.k. junior. kennedy -- rfk junior. kennedy must persuade the senate to let him go wild on health, the quote from president-elect donald trump. there is also the story in the washington post on rfk's nomination to head the health agency. rfk junior must explain his views. a look at a confirmation hearing

for r.o.k. junior -- rfk junior that will be held when the new congress convenes in january. kathy in michigan, democratic caller. we are talking about this matt gaetz ethics report and his nomination to serve as attorney general in the trunk administration. --trump administration. caller: john -- 17 euros don't have the right to consent to sexual relations. there was an article. i can't find it right now. it was published probably 20 years ago about sexual abuse. a 26-page article if i remember. one and three children in this country are sexually abused. half the victims are boys, have her girls. half of the predators are women, have the predators are men. -- half the predators are meant. i did my internship with a woman who has a phd eight in

psychosocial nursing. most of her clients in one town were victims of sexual abuse. sexual abuse that goes back many, many generations. it is a very serious crime. mr. gaetz is not fit to hold public office. if he went out to the public and try to find a job with his reputation and his record, he would have a very difficult time finding employment. this is a serious matter. i don't know why mr. johnson and anyone who has that much control can just push this aside and think it's ok. donald trump is a sexual predator. why his wife stays with him is really beyond me. it is time we really push back hard and just start saying what needs to be said as democrats. i am tired of the mam mam

bpm beatitude -- we let mr. trump put us in such a sad state of affairs. there is no happiness. host: carl in gaithersburg, maryland. republican. caller: i was wondering about the department of justice report and whether the department of justice report -- they declined prosecution of mr. gaetz -- whether that will be released as well. host: the senate judiciary committee, which is now controlled by democrats -- it won't be in january. they were led by dick durbin illinois and have asked for the justice department's investigation. caller: will they release it to the public? host: according to the wall street journal, the fbi does not do that. they do not hand over their investigations to congress

because it is against the law and they don't normally do that. that is what the senate judiciary committee, which is led by democrats now, have asked for that. caller: here my concern. it all seems to be one-sided. i'm remember the quote that said the first deplete the case seems just until another comes along to examine him. we are looking at the house report. we really don't know what it says. we are all looking. it seems to imply he's automatically guilty. there seems to be this department of justice report out there that seems to be exonerate him because the people who witnessed -- there are questions about their credibility. everyone is lobbying to release the one that basically disfavors him but they don't want to release the other that may exonerate him in some manner or another. i guess that is my only point. c-span be all to do more talking about that article.

there was an article in the federalist on the 19th about the department of justice report. i would like to hear more detail about that. host: senator john cornyn, republican of texas, said we can call these witnesses as part of their work into whether or not they confirm matt gaetz as attorney general out of the senate judiciary committee first before he goes to the floor for a vote. do you think they should do that? that way they would hear from both sides. caller: i think that is true. they ought to do both. it is my personal opinion that both reports ought to be released. we ought to understand why the department of justice declined prosecution in that case. you are right. these are serious charges and yet they declined execution. there must be a logical test declined prosecution -- the client prosecu -- declined

prosecution. there must be a logical reason why. caller: what if somebody said you and i had a thing going on? how many people are going to believe it and how we people aren't? host: your point, jeff? caller: my point is, why do people fall for anything they hear and do not dig into it? host: joe and maryland, independent. we are listening to you. -- in maryland. caller: thanks for putting up with all of us. i agree with the caller a couple of calls ago that said he would like to see the doj report and the house report released.

it works both ways. i think they concern if the charges are true is that when you have someone in a position like the head of the department of justice, if there is not only a vague moral character issue but those issues have concrete ramifications if there is somebody who he was with that privately knows certain things about him, that he could be blackmailed into letting someone off the hook or declining investigation from someone who had similar charges against them or just different charges against them. it does not have to be something similar. he can be something like embezzlement or helping a foreign country at the expense of america.

if you can't say nothing about it because they have dirt on him, that is impeding the department of justice's work. at the same time, if the reports show he's innocent of the charges, that is the kind of thing that america needs in order to have peace of mind that our justice department is being run by somebody with integrity so we don't have division in this country. host: that is joe and maryland -- in maryland. this is the federalist.com's article about the doj investigation. the report comes after years -- years after the doj dropped its investigation into the same claims on the grounds that the two central witnesses had serious credible -- credibility issues. yet these are the same two central witnesses the house ethics committee has relied on for its critical report of gaetz

. the same report it is linking to compliant reporters as part of a -- leaking to complaint reporters as part of an investigation to thwart donald trump's pick for attorney general. that is from the federalist's website about this investigation at the matt gaetz and why they did not pursue a case against him. dave in north carolina, republican. caller: good morning. this is what amazes me. over 20 million -- we are talking about matt gaetz. over 20 million illegals come across the border thanks to the democrat party and the federal government is santa claus. host: are you going to tie this back to the debate? caller: what i would like for the democrats to know about matt gaetz, bow down to what trump

wants this time. he will take it win. what that man has been through, let him have his way. host: orlando from blackwood, new jersey. democratic caller. caller: good morning america. i am calling from the democratic line. that is the partythat's the parr -- that's the party i tend to favor. listening to these calls, democrats, republicans going at each other's throats. it is simple. this individual is accused, let him stand trial on his own. do not speak on his behalf, right? any you speak on his behalf, you are tying all sorts of other issues into the problem.