Thune says he doesn't know if Gaetz will be confirmed until they start the process
When asked if he believes Matt Gaetz could be confirmed as attorney general, the incoming Senate majority leader told ABC News he doesn't know until they start the Senate confirmation process.
"I don't know until we start the process, and that's what we intend to do with him and all the other potential nominees," Sen. John Thune said. "None of this stuff's formal yet, but you know, when it is, we expect our committees to do their jobs and provide the advice and consent that is required under the Constitution."
Gaetz, who had been under a House ethics investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, resigned from Congress on Wednesday following his nomination for attorney general by Trump. Sources told ABC News the committee was preparing to meet this week to deliberate over whether to release a final report on the matter.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who currently chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called for the report's release, saying Gaetz's resignation raises "serious questions" about its contents.
"We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people," Durbin said in a statement Thursday.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., refused to discuss the confidentiality of the investigation into Gaetz.
"What happens in ethics is confidential," Guest told reporters Thursday.
