Too much voltage from bedroom 12v cigarette lighter port??

Upon connecting the multimeter, I get a 20v "overload" spike and then 1 second later drops to 12.8v. The batteries are new and all other 12v outlets work normally. It is just this one in the master bedroom that is smoking whatever I plug into it. I'm thinking I might need to rewire it direct to the batteries instead of spending too much time troubleshooting. I figured someone might have experienced this and have a quick answer but perhaps not. Cheers.