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Matt Gaetz Withdraws from Consideration for Attorney General

November 21, 2024

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has withdrawn his name from consideration to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general, the self-described “Firebrand” announced via tweet on Thursday. Gaetz faced allegations of sexual misconduct that he said made his nomination “a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

“I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback — and the incredible support of so many,” Gaetz wrote. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.”

“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history,” added Gaetz. “I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”

According to multiple news reports, a significant number of Republican senators were opposed to Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general. With an incoming Republican Senate majority of 53-47, Gaetz’s nomination could not afford to lose more than three Republican votes. However, according to anonymous sources “familiar with the conversations among Republican senators,” The Wall Street Journal said the number of Senate Republicans prepared to oppose Gaetz ranged from more than a dozen to more than 30 — in any event, “significantly more than four.”

In 2021, the Biden administration’s Department of Justice investigated Gaetz and some of his associates related to drug-fueled sex parties. On Wednesday, The New York Times claimed to have acquired documents related to that investigation, showing a web of sizable Venmo payments that Gaetz and an associate named Joel Greenberg made to a number of women. Greenberg pled guilty in 2021 to multiple charges, including sex trafficking. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and agreed to cooperate against Gaetz.

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and the DOJ never charged him with any crimes.

The Times reported that the document showing this web of transactions was obtained by the House Ethics Committee, which was conducting an independent investigation into Gaetz’s conduct. Joel Leppard, a lawyer who represents two women mentioned in the document, said they testified to the House Ethics Committee that Gaetz paid them for sex. Leppard said they received $200 to $500 for each encounter and received a total of around $4,000 each.

The House ethics investigation also explored whether Gaetz had sex with a then-17-year-old girl at one party in 2017. Greenberg, who made a documented payment of $450 to the minor, told authorities that he and Gaetz both had sex with the girl, although they believed she was over 18. Leppard said one of his clients witnessed Gaetz having sex with the minor girl.

When Gaetz announced he was withdrawing himself from consideration to become U.S. Attorney General, CNN was working on another report based on a civil lawsuit in Florida, in which the then-17-year-old had two sexual encounters with Gaetz at the party.

“After being asked for comment for this story, Gaetz announced he was backing out as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee,” the CNN report stated. Trump announced on Thursday evening that he would be nominating former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in Gaetz’s stead.  

Gaetz formerly represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in Congress. However, after Trump tapped him for the attorney general role last Wednesday, “he issued his resignation letter, effective immediately, from Congress,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). “That caught us by surprise a little bit.”

According to Johnson, Gaetz resigned suddenly so that his vacant seat can be filled sooner. Johnson said he would work with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) to fill the seat by January 3, when the House convenes to elect a speaker.

However, Real Clear Politics White House Correspondent Philip Wegmann proposed a different reason during an interview on “This Week on the Hill.” “If you talk to folks who are a bit more cynical, the timing here is very curious,” he said. “The House Ethics Committee was preparing to release a report concerning [the] activity of Mr. Gaetz and an allegedly underage girl, and by leaving Congress that effectively stymies that effort. … [T]hat was sort of the speculation that perhaps he was leaving early to avoid that accountability.”

House Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) confirmed beforehand that the ethics probe would likely end with Gaetz’s resignation. “Once the investigation is complete, the Ethics Committee will meet as a committee,” he said. “We will then return our findings. If Matt Gaetz is still a member of Congress, then that will occur. If Matt has resigned, then this ethics investigation, like many others in the past, will end again.”

On Wednesday, the House Committee voted on whether to release the result of the Gaetz ethics probe, resulting in a tie. Following the vote, Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) introduced privileged resolutions that would force the full House to vote on whether the Ethics Committee should release the report. House rules stipulate that, once a privileged resolution is introduced, the House must take it up within two legislative days.

Last October, Gaetz led the revolt that ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, filing the Motion to Vacate that ultimately removed him on October 2. In April 2024, McCarthy suggested that Gaetz ousted him because McCarthy had backed the ethics probe. “I’ll give you the truth why I’m not speaker,” he said. “It’s because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old. ... Did he do it or not? I don’t know.”

It is unclear what Gaetz’s next move will be. The only indication thus far is that Gaetz will likely not be appointed to the U.S. Senate seat held by Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — if the Senate confirms Rubio as Trump’s secretary of State — according to a “source close to DeSantis.”

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.



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