CBS News
House Ethics Committee to meet Wednesday amid growing pressure to release Gaetz report
Washington — The House Ethics Committee is set to meet Wednesday as it faces increasing pressure to release a potentially damaging report detailing its investigation into allegations former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, two sources told CBS News.
The movements of the Ethics panel have been under heightened scrutiny since President-elect Donald Trump announced last week that he had selected Gaetz to serve as attorney general. The Florida Republican resigned his seat in the House in the wake of the announcement, which ended the Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction over Gaetz since he is now a former member.
The Ethics Committee declined to comment on the upcoming meeting. The panel was supposed to meet Friday to vote on releasing the report, but Trump tapped Gaetz for the nation’s top law enforcement officer days earlier. The committee then postponed its meeting.
Gaetz must win Senate confirmation to serve as attorney general, and senators have been calling to see the Ethics Committee’s report as they weigh whether to approve his nomination. Any confirmation hearings, which would be conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, would not take place until next year after Trump is inaugurated. Republicans will gain control of the upper chamber in the next Congress, which begins Jan. 3.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, told reporters last week that he believes senators should have access to the Ethics Committee’s findings.
“I think there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated,” said Cornyn, who sits on the Judiciary Committee.
GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, a Trump ally, similarly told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he believes the Senate should be able to see the report on Gaetz.
“Congress has to advise and consent, and Matt Gaetz is going to go through the same scrutiny as every other individual, and I’m going to give him a fair shot, just like every individual, and at the end of the day, the Senate has to confirm him,” he said.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson has cautioned against the release of the report by the Ethics Committee, warning in an interview Sunday that doing so for someone who is not a current House member “would be a Pandora’s box.”
“What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out. And why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member,” Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “There’s a very important protocol and tradition and rule that we maintain that the House Ethics Committee’s jurisdiction does not extend to non-members of Congress.”
The House Ethics Committee first began its investigation into allegations of misconduct against Gaetz in April 2021, but deferred its consideration in response to a request from the Justice Department. It resumed its investigation in May 2023 after federal investigators declined to charge Gaetz following their sex-trafficking and obstruction probe.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and blamed the ethics probe on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He has called the investigation a “smear.” The Florida congressman helped lead the historic effort to strip McCarthy of the speaker’s gavel last year.
The ethics panel said in June that it had spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas and reviewed thousands of pages of documents as part of its investigation into Gaetz, and determined that “certain allegations merit continued review.”
The committee said it was examining accusations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, gave “special privileges and favors” to people close to him and sought to obstruct government investigations into his conduct.
Multiple sources told CBS News at the time that four women told the Ethics Committee that they had been paid to go to parties, which Gaetz attended, that included sex and drugs. The panel has the Florida Republican’s Venmo transactions that allegedly show payments for the women. One woman who testified to the Ethics Committee said she had sex with Gaetz at a party in 2017, just after he was elected to Congress and when she was 17 years old, sources told CBS News at the time
Her lawyer, John Clune, said on social media last week that she was a high school student and “there were witnesses.”
“We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report,” Clune wrote.
Paul Teal, an actor known for his recurring role on the TV series “One Tree Hill,” died on Friday after a battle with cancer, a representative for Teal confirmed to CBS News.
“His remarkable talent, along with his gentle spirit, has left an indelible mark on all of us fortunate enough to have known him,” Susan Tolar Walters of STW Talent Agency said in a statement on Monday. “The loss we feel in our hearts is immeasurable.”
The actor’s fiancée, Emilia Torello, shared a tribute to Teal in a Sunday Instagram post, calling him “the most thoughtful, inspiring, driven, self-disciplined, loving man.”
“Paul, you were my soulmate, my soon-to-be-husband, my rock, and my future. You filled my lungs with laughter, my stomach with butterflies, and my heart with love,” Torello wrote in the emotional post. “You were taken too soon, in a battle that you fought bravely without fail. While a part of me died with you, I promise to fight to find joy in life as hard as you fought to live every single day. The world is lucky to have even had a moment with Paul Teal, and I am the luckiest person in it, because I got to call you mine. I will love you forever.”
Teal, who played Josh in the seventh season of “One Tree Hill,” was also remembered by stars Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Lenz.
Bush said she was “incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of Paul Teal. We are just starting to watch his OTH episodes on [“Drama Queens” podcast] and he’s such a talent.”
Lenz worked with Teal on “One Tree Hill” and on a musical production of “The Notebook.”
“He was too young to die. Far too young. I’m gutted,” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Paul, your time here was like a summer romance for all of us who knew you, especially if only for a season. Bursting, exciting, deeply moving, and unforgettable.”
Teal also appeared in “Outer Banks” and “The Staircase.” He was also part of the cast of “The Hunting Wives,” which is expected to premiere in 2025.
CBS News
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will air on ESPN, ABC starting next season, as part of NBA settlement
“Inside the NBA” will continue, even though games will no longer be airing on TNT at the end of this season.
The popular studio show will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA that was announced on Monday.
The settlement gives TNT Sports, Bleacher Report and House of Highlights a global license for NBA content with no rights fee for the next 11 years.
Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of TNT Sports, sued the NBA in New York state court in August after the league did not accept the company’s matching offer for one of the packages in its new 11-year media rights deal, which will begin with the 2025-26 season.
Even though “Inside the NBA” will be on ESPN and ABC, TNT Sports will continue to produce the show. It will air from Atlanta, except when the show goes on the road.
The quartet of Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will remain with the show. Barkley signed an extension with Warner Bros. Discovery in August despite the company losing the NBA.
“‘Inside the NBA’ is universally recognized as one of the best and most culturally impactful shows in sports,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said. “We have long-admired the immensely talented team and are thrilled to add their chemistry and knowledge to our robust set of NBA studio offerings to super-serve NBA fans like never before. The addition of ‘Inside the NBA’ further solidifies ESPN as the preeminent destination for sports fans.”
“Inside the NBA” will handle pregame, halftime and postgame coverage of the NBA Finals on ABC, conference finals and the NBA Playoffs. During the regular season, it will be part of opening week coverage, as well as Christmas Day, all ABC games after Jan. 1, the final week of the season and other marquee events.
“The opportunity to continue the iconic and Emmy Award-winning ‘Inside the NBA’ is a huge win for basketball fans everywhere,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We look forward to building on our longstanding partnership with TNT Sports and working together to promote NBA content across key WBD and NBA platforms.”
“Inside the NBA” started in 1989, Johnson became the host in 1990 while Smith joined fulltime in 1998. Barkley came aboard in 2000 followed by O’Neal in 2011. The show has garnered 21 Sports Emmy Awards.
ESPN will also continue to produce “NBA Countdown” and “NBA Today.”
Warner Bros. Discovery will also continue its relationship with the league’s digital operations, including NBA.com, for five seasons. TNT Sports and the NBA have jointly managed NBA Digital since 2009.
Even though TNT Sports will not be airing games in the United States beginning next season, it does have rights to air a full package of games in select countries, including Latin America (excluding Brazil and Mexico), Poland, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
TNT Sports will also begin showing 13 Big 12 football and 15 men’s basketball games next season as part of a sublicense with ESPN. TNT will air two College Football Playoff games beginning this season also under a sublicense with ESPN.
Turner Sports has had an NBA package since 1984 and games have been on TNT since the network launched in 1988. That will end after this season.
“Together these agreements ensure fans will continue to enjoy TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ and create tremendous value for our entire portfolio as we accelerate the growth of TNT Sports, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and our global sports business,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with the NBA and Disney/ESPN, and to have solidified long-term rights and revenue for WBD.”
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Couple arrested in MN, part of ring that took Lululemon for $1M in thefts
Paul Teal, actor known for “One Tree Hill” role, dies at 35 after cancer battle
TNT’s “Inside the NBA” will air on ESPN, ABC starting next season, as part of NBA settlement
Couple arrested in MN, part of ring that took Lululemon for $1M in thefts
Paul Teal, actor known for “One Tree Hill” role, dies at 35 after cancer battle