The Movement: GOP weighs disclosure and due process in sexual misconduct allegations

From Jeffrey Epstein to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and beyond, Republicans are reckoning with classic questions: Should powerful figures accused of sexual misconduct be immediately exposed, or should they be given the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise?

Call it a part two to the “Me Too” movement from nearly a decade ago, which saw sweeping structural and cultural changes — but it was also criticized by some on the right for what they saw as a rush to judgment. Many in that group point to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as a high-profile example.

The landscape has changed again.

A new precedent has been set by the successful push to have the Department of Justice and beyond release an unprecedented amount of material about Epstein, the convicted sex offender — legislation that some Republicans and President Trump initially resisted, before all members of Congress except one voted to pass it.

Now, a number of Republicans are calling for the public disclosure of all the sexual misconduct investigations conducted by the notoriously secretive and slow House Ethics Committee.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) led that push in light of evidence emerging that Gonzales had an affair with a staffer who later died after setting herself on fire. Gonzales later admitted to the affair with his subordinate, which is against the House’s code of conduct.

The House voted to refer Mace’s resolution back to the House Ethics Committee, with just 37 Republicans voting alongside her on the resolution.

The Ethics panel, in a rare statement, warned that such a move could inadvertently harm victims and “chill victim and witness participation in ongoing and future investigations.” Privately, some Republicans told me they worried about the impact such a release would have on members’ due process, and whether it was appropriate to release materials from every investigation, when some may have been found to not be serious enough to warrant official reprimand.

But a number of Republicans fumed at the decision. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said in a committee hearing right after the vote that she was “absolutely disgusted that we couldn’t even get 50 members of Congress who want immediate transparency. Don’t we all campaign on transparency? … We should be held to the highest standard.”

Mace, who has centered her political identity on her personal stories of sexual abuse, tied the issue back to Epstein while tearing into her colleagues who voted against her resolution.

“You better not say Jeffrey Epstein’s name if you voted against my resolution and bringing forth information about members of Congress who sexually harass women,” Mace told me. “I don’t want to hear it.”

The massive Epstein files disclosure has altered the expectations of not only Mace, but many in the right-wing base who have long had suspicions that the wealthy and political elite regularly engage in sexual impropriety. It has led to the arrest of former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and pushed economist Larry Summers to resign from Harvard University. 

But the releases also included allegations against President Trump that the Department of Justice (DOJ) said were “sensationalist,” “unfounded and false.” The DOJ criticized Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) after he read the names of six men whose names were initially redacted in the files — saying that several of the men had no connection to Epstein and were selected years ago for an FBI lineup.

It’s not just the Epstein files that have altered the GOP’s attitudes on due process and confidentiality in recent years. The Ethics panel in 2023 released its report on fraudster Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) before his federal trial, breaking with its tradition of waiting until criminal investigations are complete, and 105 Republicans joined with Democrats in voting to expel him from the chamber. And the Ethics Committee in 2024 opted to publicly release its report on allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) even after he had resigned from Congress and withdrawn his name from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general.

When it comes to last week’s vote that blocked the resolution to release all allegations of sexual misconduct against members, several Republicans clearly feel the pressure from their constituents on the issue. Reps. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) made videos explaining their votes, and expressing hope that the Ethics panel could improve Mace’s resolution to address their concerns.

“Allegations are not convictions. Investigations sometimes end with no wrongdoing found,” Harrigan said in his video. “If those records are released without safeguards, someone who did nothing wrong, who has impeccable character, could still have their reputation permanently damaged. … This resolution opens the potential for partisan and personality warfare like we have never seen before.”

The situation around Gonzales spurred division among Republicans, too, as suggestive text messages between Gonzales and the staffer emerged.

Should he resign (and further narrow the razor-thin GOP majority that already gives leadership headaches)? Or should he simply end his reelection bid (which he did last week following pressure from GOP leaders after he admitted to the affair)?

Asked why he is not calling on Gonzales to resign, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) expressed confidence in the Ethics panel.

“They have an element of new process. They do the investigations as quickly and efficiently and effectively as they can. We have good leadership there. I’m convinced that they’ll do this as rapidly as possible,” Johnson said.

Welcome to The Movement, a weekly newsletter looking at the influences and debates on the right in Washington. I’m Emily Brooks, House leadership reporter at The Hill. 

Send me tips, comments, and suggestions: ebrooks@thehill.com.

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EVALUATING CRENSHAW’S PRIMARY LOSS

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (Texas) last week became the first GOP incumbent in the 2026 cycle to lose his reelection bid to a primary challenger — not even advancing to the runoff.

It’s a big victory for those who have long accused the former Navy SEAL with an independent streak of being insufficiently conservative — and Crenshaw often fired back. He sparred with Tucker Carlson, who once called him “Eyepatch McCain” for voting in favor of aid for Ukraine; he said the claim that the 2020 election was stolen was a “lie meant to rile people up”; and he said some members of the House Freedom Caucus were “grifters” and “performance artists.”

Right-wing influencers and posters quickly declared that Crenshaw’s defeat marked an ideological victory against “neocons” and “establishment RINOs,” and a victory for the MAGA movement. But when seeing the full picture of feuds that drove support for his challenger, and factoring in Crenshaw’s often prickly demeanor, it’s unclear whether the single primary can give us any indication about the broader ideological direction of the GOP base. 

Challenger Steve Toth, a Texas state representative, had the backing of Turning Point Action, the Freedom Caucus Fund, the Club for Growth, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose air safety bill Crenshaw had helped defeat in the House. President Trump did not endorse in the primary — making Crenshaw the only House Republican to not get a Trump endorsement.

The bulk of outside PAC spending in the race, as Axios’s Alex Isenstadt reported, came from Texas billionaire banker Robert Marling, who has been a longtime donor to and ally of Cruz, and he reportedly had various gripes with Crenshaw on issues that ranged from geography to disputed event invitation requests. Crenshaw unloaded on Marling on social media near the end of the primary, accusing the billionaire of retaliating after the Texas congressman asked for an investigation into a developer backed by Marling that faced heat over what Crenshaw called a “staggering illegal immigrant population.”

After his primary loss, Crenshaw blamed it on misinformation.

“A large part of this election was about the power of clickbait,” Crenshaw told The Texas Tribune. “Memes became truth. Too many people are not discerning through the clickbait. People voting — one after the other — literally thought I was making millions in the stock market doing inside trading. Even though I haven’t made a trade in three years. I’ve made under $46,000 over my entire seven years in office. The truth didn’t matter to people.”

Friday, Mar. 13: The Federalist Society hosts a webinar about the FACE Act to discuss and examine the FACE Act’s statutory framework, recent enforcement and the constitutional and policy questions surrounding its future. 1 p.m. Details here.

Thursday, March 19: The Bull Moose Institute hosts an America First Antitrust Forum, featuring Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson and acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Omeed Assefi, among others. Details here.

Thursday, March 19: The Heritage Foundation hosts a fireside chat with The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles. Details here.

The Club for Growth hosted its Economic Summit in Florida over the weekend. Club President David McIntosh told Fox News of the group’s midterm strategy: “We’ve got the folks who voted for President Trump that don’t necessarily come out in the midterms, we’ve got to share with them what’s at stake … turning America around versus letting all the socialists back in. … Our plan is to go to those Trump voters, tell them, ‘You need to vote one more time for President Trump. This time, it’s for the Republican in Congress so he can keep going, keep changing the country.’”

Turning Point USA’s Erika Kirk will be commencement speaker at Hillsdale College on May 9. Larry Arnn, the college’s president, said in a statement that the college will help her carry on her late husband Charlie Kirk’s legacy. 

PSA for those digesting President Trump’s pledge that he will not sign any bills into law until the SAVE America Act, which would implement voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration, is on his desk: Per Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution, any bill not signed or vetoed by the president within 10 days (except Sundays) becomes law.

Puck’s Leigh Ann Caldwell: J.D. Vance’s Private War

Washington Examiner’s Byron York: Trump, Iran, and the midterm elections

Washington Post’s Natalie Allison: In Texas, Trump flirts with defying his own movement

Natalie Winters on Substack: The Iran Escalation vs. Trump’s National Security Strategy

The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: How Kristi Noem finally lost Trump’s trust

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