Michael Guest, the chairman of the House Ethics Committee (RMS), has indicated that his committee will likely ignore Speaker Mike Johnson (RLA)’s recommendation to hold back its investigation into Matt Gaetz (RFL).

Matt Gaetz is no longer in the House, and as such, no longer falls under the purview of the committee. He resigned after Donald Trump announced that he was nominated for Attorney General. Johnson, who has publicly opposed the release and asked the committee to keep it secret, conveyed this sentiment to Guest personally over the weekend.

Guest told Politico, “I’m grateful that Mike reached out.” “I don’t see that it will have an impact on the final decision we make as a committee.”

On Wednesday, the committee will meet to decide whether to release their report on Gaetz.

Members of Congress are not very interested in the Ethics Committee, which lacks a legislative authority and does not allow its members to collect campaign funds from donors. It is seen as a burden by most members. The members of the Ethics Committee are appointed by their respective party leader, and they usually do so because they have shown loyalty to that leader.

Since arriving in Washington, Gaetz’s fiery personality has consistently targeted Washington’s corruption and entrenched interests. Gaetz was most notable for leading the ouster former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Gaetz denies wrongdoing, and claims that the Ethics investigation is revenge for McCarthy losing his gavel.

Gaetz, at a CPAC conference in early 2024, criticized the stock trading practices of Congress, singling out Guest’s trading record.

He said that members of Congress should not be allowed trade stocks individually for the same reasons you do not allow umpires to bet. “How about letting the Ethics Committee tackle these reforms?”

Gaetz addressed the Ethics Committee chair, noting that Guest had voted in favor of the creation of the Commission on January 6, which was created to take Trump’s side.

Gaetz said, “He is a brilliant trader and I admire his obvious genius.” He knew when to buy online gambling stock. He made a 36 percent profit on his purchase of Evolution Gaming Securities. Not bad. This is not insider trading but it is the most suspicious financial transaction I have seen since Fani willis and Nathan Wade, the Fulton County district attorney and her reported lover and top prosecutor for her case against Trump.

Wade was forced to resign by a court after the alleged affair he had with Willis that predated his appointment in the case came to light.

Gaetz, who was perhaps the only Republican in Congress to refuse to accept campaign contributions from PACs while in Congress, stressed the importance of rooting public corruption in Congress – a focus Trump wants Gaetz carry over to the DOJ.

Gaetz, as Attorney General, would supervise federal investigations of members of Congress accused of insider trading and other forms corruption — including Guest.

Gaetz also criticised Guest for an incident from 2021, in which a test alerted to the Ethics Committee about his failure to disclose a stock held by his family. Guest was fined $200 for failing to disclose the stock within eight months.

Axios reported that Trump, as Guest moves closer to releasing his report, has made it clear that Gaetz’s nomination is a priority. He personally pressed senators on Monday to confirm Gaetz.

Kevin Cramer, a Republican senator from North Dakota who had received a phone call from Trump and told the outlet that “he clearly wants Matt Gaetz.” “He believes Matt Gaetz will have the courage and ferocity, really, to accomplish what is needed at the Department of Justice.”

Guest has previously defied Trump, most notably voting for the Jan. 6 Commission. However, Guest’s open disobedience of the Speaker is unusual. Guest said on Monday that he had not heard directly from anyone in the Trump administration and Trump did not address the issue of whether or not the report should be made public. All the Republican members were in their seats before Johnson took over as speaker. McCarthy, who had been ousted by Gaetz and was now the leader of the House Republicans, was also seated.

The committee is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, and only a majority vote will release the report. Democrats are almost certain to vote for a report which would embarrass Trump’s priority nominee. Rep. Susan Wild (D. PA), the committee’s leading Democrat, said that she supports this.

The Republican members of the committee, in addition to Guest, are Reps. David Joyce and John Rutherford from Ohio; Andrew Garbarino from New York; and Michelle Fischbach from Minnesota.

The Republican-led committee has handicapped the GOP before, but this would be the first report released by the Republican-led committee in the current Congress.

The committee broke decades-old precedents in 2023 by publishing its investigation of Republican Rep. George Santos, (R-NY), despite the fact that the congressman had not yet been tried for his alleged criminal offenses. Santos was expelled from Congress following the report, after previous attempts failed.

The House expelled Rep. Jim Traficant, D-OH, in 2002 only after Traficant had been found guilty by a court. The Ethics Committee did not begin its investigation until Traficant’s court case was concluded.

Losing Santos, a reliable conservative vote, cost Republicans. The House’s embarrassing failure to impeach Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was a major disappointment.

The Republican-led committee in this Congress chose not to act against Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman, despite his plea of guilty for pulling a false fire alarm at a House Office Building that disrupted a House Vote — allegedly, to stop House Republicans from passing a budget bill, while Senate Democrats prepared their own package, a possible felony.

Guest, who has been the chair of the committee’s Republican section since January 2023, has served as its top Republican since August 2022. He succeeded Jackie Walorski, the former Republican representative, after her death.

He can continue to lead the committee in the next Congress. Early December, the powerful Republican Steering Committee will meet to choose the Chairman and Members of the Ethics Committee. The Speaker has the majority of votes, as well as significant influence.

Johnson said that after Gaetz’s resignation, he had done so because of a Florida law which gives “an 8-week period for selecting and filling a vacant position.”

If you do the math and start the clock, you may be able fill this seat by Jan. 3, when we swear in the new Congress.