House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that he does not think a House Ethics Committee report on allegations related to Matt Gaetz should be released and is 맥스카지노�going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report.맥스카지노�Johnson called on the ethics panel to withhold the report shortly after returning from visiting with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and said he plans to speak with the panel맥스카지노�s chairman, GOP Rep. Michael Guest. Gaetz, who resigned from Congress this week after Trump announced his intent to nominate him to serve as attorney general, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.맥스카지노�I맥스카지노�m going to strongly request that the Ethics Committee not issue the report because that is not the way we do things in the House, and I think that would be a terrible precedent to set,맥스카지노� Johnson told reporters on Friday. The comments are a significant move by the House GOP leader to push to block the release of a report from a probe that is supposed to be separate from the speaker맥스카지노�s office.Johnson맥스카지노�s comments also mark a reversal after he said on Thursday, 맥스카지노�the speaker is not involved with what happens in ethics. Lots of important reasons for that.맥스카지노�Since Gaetz has resigned, the probe has ended as the panel only has jurisdiction over a member when they are serving in Congress. Lawmakers have been deliberating whether the panel still has the power to release the report, even if Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress.Speaking again to reporters again on Friday after saying he would ask the Ethics Committee not to release the report, Johnson refused to say if he had spoken to Trump about the issue and sought to clarify his position on the committee not issuing the report.맥스카지노�I맥스카지노�m not talking to anybody about what I맥스카지노�ve said to Trump,맥스카지노� Johnson said, emphasizing that the speaker맥스카지노�s office has 맥스카지노�no involvement or understanding맥스카지노� of the ethics committee맥스카지노�s inner workings.맥스카지노�Let me say this. I believe it is very important to maintain the House맥스카지노�s traditions of not issuing ethics reports on people who are no longer (a) member of Congress,맥스카지노� Johnson said. 맥스카지노�I think it would open a Pandora맥스카지노�s box. It맥스카지노�s a very important rule that should be maintained. It has been broken once or twice, it should not have been.맥스카지노�Johnson continued, 맥스카지노�What I맥스카지노�m saying is, if someone is no longer a member of Congress, we are not in the business of investigating and publishing reports about people who are not part of this institution. The House Ethics Committee맥스카지노�s jurisdiction is over sitting members of Congress. I think if you think about it, this will make sense to everybody.맥스카지노�A spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee pushed back on Johnson맥스카지노�s comments in a statement to CNN.맥스카지노�There is longstanding precedent for releasing ethics investigation materials after a Member resigns, whether in the House or Senate. The now former Congressman shouldn맥스카지노�t be able to resign away an ethics investigation involving allegations of grave misconduct, especially when he will be nominated to be our country맥스카지노�s top law enforcement officer,맥스카지노� said Josh Sorbe, spokesperson for Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.맥스카지노�There is bipartisan support for the Senate Judiciary Committee having access to this information. Chair Durbin will continue pursuing it so members of the Committee can fulfill their constitutional obligation of advice and consent on this deeply problematic nominee.맥스카지노�The ethics panel had been due to meet this week to vote on releasing a report addressing numerous allegations about Gaetz, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. But committee Republicans canceled a scheduled meeting on Friday with Democrats after meeting privately Thursday night.The Senate Judiciary Committee requested on Thursday that the House Ethics Committee immediately preserve and 맥스카지노�transmit all relevant documentation on Mr. Gaetz, including the report맥스카지노� as the Senate gears up to vet the nomination during what is expected to be a contentious confirmation process.맥스카지노�The Senate certainly had a right to request (the Gaetz report). I can맥스카지노�t talk about our internal deliberations, but the information that they맥스카지노�ve requested, I think it맥스카지노�s totally reasonable for them to have, and in fact, I think it맥스카지노�s essential for them to get that kind of information before they make a decision of this magnitude,맥스카지노� said Democratic Rep. Glenn Ivey, who serves on the Ethics Committee.The Ethics Committee said in June that it had been probing allegations that Gaetz may have 맥스카지노�engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.맥스카지노�At that time, the panel said that Gaetz 맥스카지노�has categorically denied all of the allegations before the Committee.맥스카지노�Democrats are beginning to openly question the timing of Gaetz맥스카지노�s resignation, and if it was tied to the impending report release.Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who served on the ethics panel for seven years, told reporters, 맥스카지노�One would suspect the timing is suspicious because it was a matter of hours before the committee was going to release their report. And I don맥스카지노�t know what the tradition is of the committee to say we can맥스카지노�t let somebody exploit the timing of the report because there is a lot of work that goes into it.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�It defies belief that anyone could become the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America with an outstanding House Ethics Committee investigative report that doesn맥스카지노�t get released relating to potential misconduct,맥스카지노� Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin told CNN.Pressed about whether the public had the right to more information about the allegations now that Trump has picked Gaetz to serve as his attorney general, Johnson responded, 맥스카지노�The rules of the House have always been that a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics committee, and so I don맥스카지노�t think that맥스카지노�s relevant.맥스카지노�CNN맥스카지노�s Lauren Fox contributed to this report.