Johnson: I haven't talked about '1 word' of Gaetz ethics report with Trump
In a statement, Johnson emphasized, “The president and I have literally not discussed one word about the ethics report, not once.”
TroibNews 
Speaker Mike Johnson stated on Sunday that he has not had any discussions regarding the House ethics report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz with President-elect Donald Trump, despite his request for the committee to withhold the report's release on Friday.
“The president and I have literally not discussed one word about the ethics report, not once,” Johnson said during an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And I've been with him quite a bit this week between Washington and Mar-a-Lago. And last night in Madison Square Garden.”
Johnson's remarks follow Trump’s surprising choice of Gaetz as his Attorney General, a decision that led to Gaetz resigning from Congress mere hours afterward. Gaetz is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations related to sexual conduct with an underage girl, and he faces potential challenges in securing Senate confirmation. Although the committee was set to convene on Friday to discuss the report, that meeting has since been delayed.
Earlier in the week, Johnson had refrained from commenting on the report, asserting that the Speaker operates independently from the House Ethics Committee. However, on Friday, he stated he would ask the committee not to release the report, citing precedent due to Gaetz's departure from the House. Johnson had been in Trump’s company the previous night.
On Sunday, Johnson insisted that his two statements regarding maintaining independence and requesting the report not be released were not at odds: “What I said is entirely consistent,” he explained to CNN.
“The Speaker of the House is not involved in Ethics Committee work. Can't be, shouldn't be, because the speaker can't put a thumb on the scale or have anything to do with that,” Johnson emphasized. “What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out. And why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member.”
He further stated, “There's a very important protocol and tradition and rule that we maintain that the House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction does not extend to non-members of Congress. I think that would be a Pandora’s box.”
Later, in an interview with Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday," Johnson refrained from committing to whether he would support recess appointments, as Trump has proposed in order to expedite some of his controversial nominations. He sidestepped a direct answer on supporting recess nominations that would bypass Senate confirmation.
“Listen, I believe in the principle of a new president being able to choose his team and that used to not be a controversial notion,” Johnson remarked. “I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advice-and-consent and allow the president to put the persons in his Cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down it will be a great detriment to the country, to the American people.”
He added, “We will evaluate all of that at the appropriate time and we will make the appropriate decision. There may be a function for that, we will have to see how it plays out.”
Bream pressed Johnson on the apparent discrepancy between his support for breaking precedent regarding recess appointments and his stance on the release of the ethics report.
“I've been a jealous guardian of the Constitution my entire life and it was my career before I came to Congress and I've demonstrated over and over that we will have fidelity to our oath, which is uphold the Constitution, so we evaluate all these things very carefully,” Johnson responded. “I’m sympathetic to all these arguments. As I said, we’ll have to see how this develops.”
He also noted, “But I think all of the hyperbole and everything on the front end here is to distract the American people and to try to stall President Trump in delivering upon that mandate again that the people have given him.”
Following Johnson's comments on "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Chris Coons acknowledged that the House no longer has the capacity to discipline Gaetz since he is no longer a member, but pointed out that reports have been released after members left Congress. Coons asserted that given Gaetz's nomination as attorney general, the report should still be made public.
"It's relevant because the Senate has a constitutional role. It's called our advice and consent role to make sure that a president-elect mostly gets their choice, their nominees, but doesn't get to put people in who are unqualified or who lack the requisite character and capabilities to lead an incredibly important agency like the Department of Justice," he stated.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
“The president and I have literally not discussed one word about the ethics report, not once,” Johnson said during an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And I've been with him quite a bit this week between Washington and Mar-a-Lago. And last night in Madison Square Garden.”
Johnson's remarks follow Trump’s surprising choice of Gaetz as his Attorney General, a decision that led to Gaetz resigning from Congress mere hours afterward. Gaetz is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegations related to sexual conduct with an underage girl, and he faces potential challenges in securing Senate confirmation. Although the committee was set to convene on Friday to discuss the report, that meeting has since been delayed.
Earlier in the week, Johnson had refrained from commenting on the report, asserting that the Speaker operates independently from the House Ethics Committee. However, on Friday, he stated he would ask the committee not to release the report, citing precedent due to Gaetz's departure from the House. Johnson had been in Trump’s company the previous night.
On Sunday, Johnson insisted that his two statements regarding maintaining independence and requesting the report not be released were not at odds: “What I said is entirely consistent,” he explained to CNN.
“The Speaker of the House is not involved in Ethics Committee work. Can't be, shouldn't be, because the speaker can't put a thumb on the scale or have anything to do with that,” Johnson emphasized. “What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out. And why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member.”
He further stated, “There's a very important protocol and tradition and rule that we maintain that the House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction does not extend to non-members of Congress. I think that would be a Pandora’s box.”
Later, in an interview with Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday," Johnson refrained from committing to whether he would support recess appointments, as Trump has proposed in order to expedite some of his controversial nominations. He sidestepped a direct answer on supporting recess nominations that would bypass Senate confirmation.
“Listen, I believe in the principle of a new president being able to choose his team and that used to not be a controversial notion,” Johnson remarked. “I wish the Senate would simply do its job of advice-and-consent and allow the president to put the persons in his Cabinet of his choosing. But if this thing bogs down it will be a great detriment to the country, to the American people.”
He added, “We will evaluate all of that at the appropriate time and we will make the appropriate decision. There may be a function for that, we will have to see how it plays out.”
Bream pressed Johnson on the apparent discrepancy between his support for breaking precedent regarding recess appointments and his stance on the release of the ethics report.
“I've been a jealous guardian of the Constitution my entire life and it was my career before I came to Congress and I've demonstrated over and over that we will have fidelity to our oath, which is uphold the Constitution, so we evaluate all these things very carefully,” Johnson responded. “I’m sympathetic to all these arguments. As I said, we’ll have to see how this develops.”
He also noted, “But I think all of the hyperbole and everything on the front end here is to distract the American people and to try to stall President Trump in delivering upon that mandate again that the people have given him.”
Following Johnson's comments on "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Chris Coons acknowledged that the House no longer has the capacity to discipline Gaetz since he is no longer a member, but pointed out that reports have been released after members left Congress. Coons asserted that given Gaetz's nomination as attorney general, the report should still be made public.
"It's relevant because the Senate has a constitutional role. It's called our advice and consent role to make sure that a president-elect mostly gets their choice, their nominees, but doesn't get to put people in who are unqualified or who lack the requisite character and capabilities to lead an incredibly important agency like the Department of Justice," he stated.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
