Former Rep. Matt Gaetz seeks restraining order to halt release of House Ethics report

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., sought a restraining order Monday against the House Ethics Committee in an effort to halt the panel’s expected release of a final report summarizing its investigation into him.

The filing accuses the committee of an “unconstitutional” attempt “to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen through the threatened release of an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations, in violation of the Committee’s own rules.”

Gaetz’s lawyers say in the complaint, submitted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, that the committee’s intention to release the report about him “represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections” after the panel acknowledged that “it lacks jurisdiction over former members.”

The complaint argues the report would irreparably hurt Gaetz’s reputation, saying that the threatened release “concerning matters of sexual propriety and other acts of alleged moral turpitude constitutes irreparable harm that cannot be adequately remedied through monetary damages.”