Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general and said he would not return to the House. But Gaetz, who announced his resignation from Congress just hours after Donald Trump nominated him to the post, will not fade into obscurity. We know that Trump chooses his closest political allies based on their loyalty rather than anything else, and Gaetz is one of the most loyal members of his movement.

Gaetz resigned, presumably to prevent the release of a House Ethics Committee report on its years-long investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him. The House Ethics Committee must release its report – not only because the American people deserve to know the character of someone who represented them for seven years in Congress, but also because the political career of Gaetz is probably far from finished.

When Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) resigned from the House representatives in 2010, just hours before the Office of Congressional Ethics was about to publish a report in his ethical investigation into his actions, it was undoubtedly to protect his candidacy for governor from any backlash.

At the time, I was one of the OCE’s very first investigators, charged with providing an independent, nonpartisan look at accusations of congressional ethics violations.

Despite his resignation, the OCE unanimously decided that the public has a right to know whether Deal has met the rigorous standards to which we hold our elected officials. We published our findings that there was credible reason to believe that Deal used his official position and resources to financially benefit his vehicle recovery business.

This report (and the various other ethical violations it revealed) now remains an important part of Deal’s work. legacy of corruption while he exercises a public function.

It has not been so easy to shed light on the Gaetz probe. Why was precedent not followed, despite constant calls from lawmakers and the public to release the report?

There is a simple answer: the Gaetz investigation was conducted by the House Ethics Committeenot the OCE.

While the House Ethics Committee is made up of members of Congress, the OCE is an independent, nonpartisan office that can review allegations and make recommendations to the committee for investigations. This lack of partisan interference allowed us to prioritize the public interest and transparency when releasing our findings on Deal.

But the Gaetz investigation is not in the hands of nonpartisan lawyers or ordinary citizens. The matter was brought directly to the ethics committee, meaning their decision whether or not to release the report could potentially have huge political ramifications, particularly for members of the ethics committee.

For House committee members, Gaetz’s nomination was a political minefield. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had incited against releasing the report, and representatives were confronted a barrage of political pressure of the president-elect to confirm his candidates.

I know that for the Republican members of this committee, Gaetz’s resignation seems like the perfect opportunity to let the matter fade into obscurity.

But I fear that the consequences of not disclosing these results to the public will be far more damaging.

Justice should not have a time limit. Creating a loophole for representatives to hide information from the public by resigning at the right time sets a dangerous precedent and is why we have chosen to release ethics reports on former representatives in the past; as we did for Nathan Deal, and as we also did when the OCE discovered this former Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) used taxpayer-funded resources for his political campaign.

Most importantly, if the investigation reveals that the official did not commit any offense, the public should know that. If Gaetz ever continues his political career without the release of this report, Americans will have little with which to judge the true integrity of his character, other than the salacious headlines and political infighting that have erupted since his appointment.

For many Americans, the decision to keep this report private confirms their cynical perception of our lawmakers: acting in secret, beholden to their own self-interest, and answering only to those with enough political power to win their ear. To earn public trust, we must demonstrate that our institutions work, regardless of who is in charge.

We are entering the second term of a president who has not hesitated use his official powers – and the long reach of his ultra-wealthy political allies – to bend the will of the legislative and judicial branches to his desires and create a culture of fear among Republicans who publicly disavow his agenda. The Gaetz report will not be the first test of our government’s willingness to prioritize the public good over partisan interests. Failing is a dangerous premonition for what is to come.

Kedric Payne is vice president, general counsel and senior ethics director at the Campaign Legal Center.

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