Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will “strongly urge” the House Ethics Committee not to release the results of its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz. The move effectively rebuffs senators seeking access now that Gaetz is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Johnson’s intervention is highly unusual because the ethics panel has traditionally operated independently and seems certain to add to the growing furor on Capitol Hill over Gaetz’s nomination to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer . The Florida Republican has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that a Justice Department investigation into sex-trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended without federal charges against him.