Former US representative Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration as president-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, saying his confirmation was becoming a distraction.
“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,” Gaetz, a Republican, wrote in a post on X.
“Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.”
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The announcement came a day after the House Ethics Committee deadlocked on releasing a report into allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use by Gaetz, and after he met with Republican senators whose support would be needed to become attorney general.
Trump, in a social media post, said: “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!”.
Gaetz’s withdrawal is the first sign that Trump could face resistance from members of his own party to picks with anti-establishment backgrounds.
Gaetz’s announcement came days after a lawyer for two women said that his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was a Florida congressman.
He resigned from the House of Representatives after Trump announced he would nominate him for the cabinet.
One of the women testified she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old at a party in Florida in 2017, according to the lawyer Joel Leppard.
Leppard has said that his client testified she did not think Gaetz knew the girl was underage, stopped their relationship when he found out and did not resume it until after she turned 18.
The age of consent in Florida is 18.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended with no federal charges against him.
with AP