WASHINGTON — The House Ethics Committee is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss how it should move forward with its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Justice Department.

Over the last week, two lawyers have come forward with claims made by women they represent who allege the former congressman had inappropriate relationships and sexual relations with underaged women while he was in Congress.

Joel Leppard, who represents two women who testified before the Ethics Committee, told ABC News, CNN and other media outlets that one of his clients saw Gaetz having sex with her then-17-year-old friend at a party in 2017 in Florida, while Gaetz was serving in Congress. The age of consent in Florida is 18.

Last week, John Clune — a Colorado-based attorney representing a woman who says she had an inappropriate relationship with Gaetz while she was still in high school — called the Florida lawmaker’s nomination “a perverse development in a truly dark series of events” and called on the Ethics Committee to release its report “immediately.”

Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing, and a Justice Department investigation resulted in no charges. 

The committee’s investigation effectively ended last week when Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him to be attorney general. The question over whether the report should be released has left lawmakers on Capitol Hill divided.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., who sits on the panel, told reporters Tuesday he believes that even if the general public does not get to read it, that the senators responsible for confirming Trump’s nominees should.

"I think the Senate should have a chance to take a look at any evidence they think is relevant to the decision they have to make,” said Ivey. “They've got a constitutional obligation to have advice and consent on this nomination. It's such an important one.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. has compared releasing the report to “opening Pandora’s box.”

“They have to vet candidates, of course, and there will be plenty of them," he said Monday night. "But to use the House's resources in a manner that is virtually unprecedented, I think, is a breach of protocol and something that has dangerous implications down the road."

House Democrats have been calling for the committee to release the report since Gaetz was nominated to be the nation’s top law enforcement official.

“Those who don't want it released are basically in the pedophile protection business,” Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., told Spectrum News. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries simply said “yes” when asked Tuesday if the committee’s report should be made public.

While Johnson has continued to push back on the calls to release the report, not all Republicans have been as quick to reject the notion.

"I think it would be helpful," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told reporters Tuesday. "Everybody's talking about it. It apparently was just about done."

"I think that if they want a speedy consideration of this nomination, we got to have as much transparency as we can have,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will oversee Gaetz nomination.

Just days after he resigned his office, Gaetz is expected back on Capitol Hill this week. A source familiar tells Spectrum News that Vice President-elect JD Vance will make the rounds this week, arranging meetings between key GOP Senators as well as with Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary.

The Associated Press and Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig, Melody Kloepfer, and Taylor Popielarz contributed to this story.