Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general on Thursday, saying his nomination—besieged by allegations that he had sex with minors at drug-fueled sex parties, and then bragged about those encounters to fellow lawmakers on the House floor—was “becoming a distraction” for Donald Trump.
In a post on X, Gaetz wrote:
I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback - and the incredible support of so many. 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. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America.
Gaetz’s announcement came minutes before CNN was set to run a story that Gaetz had a threesome with a minor and a woman who was of age.
The woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017, sources familiar with her testimony tell CNN.
From CNN’s report:
The woman, who was 17 years old at the time, testified that the second sexual encounter, which has not previously been reported, included another adult woman. She also testified to both sexual encounters in a civil deposition as part of a related lawsuit, sources said.
After being asked for comment for this story, Gaetz announced he was backing out as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee.
Trump shocked Republicans when he first nominated Gaetz for the AG role, as Gaetz is widely reviled by members of his own party for being a general scumbag and instigator.
“I’m looking at him as a member of Congress and the job that he has done here, and it has been abhorrent,” Rep. Max Miller of Ohio told CNN of Gaetz. “I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I just say the quiet part out loud, and I wish other of my colleagues would have the same courage to do so.”
Trump nominated Gaetz even though his personal transgressions were widely known and were under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Because the committee was reportedly set to release its lengthy report on Gaetz’s conduct, Gaetz resigned his seat in Congress just hours after Trump nominated him to serve as attorney general—likely an effort to keep that report under seal. The Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction to punish members of Congress once they resign, though the panel was weighing whether to make the report public anyway, given Gaetz’s nomination to be the country’s top law enforcement officer.
Still, House Speaker Mike Johnson was trying to protect Gaetz’s nomination by telling the House Ethics Committee not to release their report on Gaetz’s conduct. And the committee was set to heed that demand, with Republicans on the committee voting on Thursday to keep the report private.
After Gaetz withdrew his nomination, Trump fired off a Truth Social post thanking Gaetz.
“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!” Trump wrote.
While Gaetz resigned his current seat in the House, he won reelection in November for the new Congress that will be sworn in come January. It’s unclear whether he will want to return to Capitol Hill and be sworn in alongside the other members of Congress, many of whom hate Gaetz’s guts due to his scumbag ways.
If he does decide to be seated in the new Congress, the Ethics Committee will once again have jurisdiction over him, and the report could be released.
Trump nominated Gaetz on Nov. 13, meaning his nomination lasted just eight days—not even one Scaramucci.
While Gaetz withdrawing his nomination puts out one fire for Trump, fires around his other Cabinet nominations are still raging.
On Wednesday, multiple media outlets obtained police records detailing rape allegations against Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Defense.
The allegations in the police report are graphic, with a woman claiming she was sexually assaulted by Hegseth at a Republican women’s event in California in 2017.
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