WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., sought a temporary restraining order against the House Ethics Committee on Monday, stopping the panel’s expected release of a final report summarizing the investigation against him.

The filing accuses the committee of an “unconstitutional” attempt “to exercise jurisdiction over a private citizen by threatening to publish an investigative report containing potentially defamatory allegations, in violation of the committee’s own rules.”

Gaetz’s lawyers say in the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the committee’s intention to release the report on him “constitutes an unprecedented overreach that threatens fundamental constitutional rights and established procedural protections” after the panel had admitted that “there is a lack of responsibility for former members.”

The complaint argues that the report would cause irreparable harm to Gaetz’s reputation, stating that the threatened release “constitutes irreparable harm with respect to issues of sexual propriety and other alleged moral turpitude that cannot be adequately remedied by financial compensation.” can”.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the clerk’s office informed Gaetz’s attorneys that there were clerical errors in the complaint that needed to be corrected before further action in the case.

NBC News reported last week that the House Ethics Committee voted to publicly release the panel’s report detailing the investigation into Gaetz. The year-long investigation examined allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted improper gifts, granted special favors to people with whom he had personal relationships and obstructed House investigations.

Gaetz denied any criminal wrongdoing and said in a post last week that he was playing “very hard — and also playing hard.”

“It’s embarrassing, but not criminal, that I probably partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have earlier in life,” he said. “I live a different life now.”

The Justice Department had investigated Gaetz for sex trafficking but ultimately decided not to charge him.

Concerns about the allegations against Gaetz led him to withdraw his name as attorney general for President-elect Donald Trump. He resigned from the House of Representatives last month after Trump selected him.

While Gaetz has claimed that it is against the rules to release ethics reports on former members, there is a precedent for this scenario. Two months after the resignation of former Rep. Bill Boner, D-Tenn., in 1987 and on the day that former Rep. Buz Lukens, R-Ohio, left the House in 1990, the committee released its reports to lawmakers .