House women's caucuses urge Ethics Committee to speed up investigation into Jimmy Gomez

The leaders of each party's House Women's caucus urged the chamber's Ethics Committee this week to release an update on its investigation into allegations that Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., committed sexual misconduct.

The House committee opened its investigation into Gomez on Monday, after allegations surfaced that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a female staffer of another Democratic lawmaker. Gomez has said the 2023 interaction was consensual and that he did not violate any House rules or break any laws.

The Democratic Women’s Caucus urged the Ethics Committee on Wednesday to “release the status of their investigation, while protecting survivor privacy, before the 60-day blackout period ahead of Election Day," according to The Hill.

“The recent allegations against Representative Jimmy Gomez are disturbing and must be taken seriously," the caucus said in a statement.  "Allegations of workplace sexual harassment against women must be investigated and if substantiated, met with clear and meaningful consequences."

Florida Rep. Kat Cammack, the leader of the Republican Women's Caucus, also urged the committee to release an update on the investigation prior to the midterms election in November.

“[The committee] should move with urgency, and if these allegations are substantiated, Representative Gomez must resign and any criminal conduct must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," she said.

Two attorneys for the unidentified staffer denied Gomez's claim that the affair was consensual, claiming the lawmaker sexually harassed and assaulted their client.

“Contrary to Representative Gomez’s assertion in his statement, his actions were not ‘consensual in nature’ with respect to our client,” the attorneys said in a joint statement. “We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation.”

The probe marks the latest incident by the panel exploring similar allegations against lawmakers. Recent probes include Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, who requested a probe into himself in a bid to clear his name, and now-former Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., who was found to have given two staffers inappropriate gifts.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.