Matt Gaetz files restraining order to block already-leaked ethics report

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is filing a legal complaint to try to block release of the House Ethics Committee's report into him, reported NBC News — but he's probably too late for it to matter.

This comes after reports that the committee, which has been wrestling with whether to release the full details of the report, is finally moving to do so — and after large portions of its content were already leaked, including confirmation the committee found substantial evidence for accusations that Gaetz engaged in statutory rape and illicit drug use.

Gaetz has continually denied all of these allegations, which have floated around for years, but which he claims were part of an extortion racket against himself and his family.

Gaetz's request for a restraining order "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,'" noted the report. His legal team further asserts that the release of the report "represents an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections."

The former congressman was initially Trump's pick for attorney general, but he withdrew amid the controversy over releasing the report, and indications that Senate Republicans did not have the votes to confirm him.

He also resigned his seat in Congress.