Matt Gaetz withdraws his bid for attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations

By Sarah Fitzpatrick, Jake Traylor, Olympia Sonnier, Peter Nicholas, and Alexandra Marquez Former Representative Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., declared on Thursday that he will not be running for president-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general position.

Numerous claims of sexual misconduct, including having sex with a teenager at a party in 2017, clouded Gaetz’s future. The House Ethics Committee, which had been looking into Gaetz, was informed that a 17-year-old girl had two sex encounters with the then-congressman during the party, according to a source who spoke to NBC News on Thursday.

She described the second encounter in a deposition in a related civil lawsuit and in testimony to the House Ethics Committee. According to a source, there was another adult woman involved in the second sexual encounter.

The first outlet to report on the fresh accusations was CNN. Gaetz has denied claims of sexual misbehavior on several occasions.

“It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz wrote on X on Thursday.

“I will be removing my name from consideration to be Attorney General because there is no time to squander on an unnecessary, drawn-out Washington squabble. On Day 1, Trump’s DOJ needs to be operational and prepared,” he continued.

Gaetz has been performing “very well” in the confirmation process, according to Trump, who lauded him on Truth Social.

“Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts to obtain approval to serve as Attorney General are deeply appreciated. Although he was doing extremely well, he did not want to cause any trouble for the Administration, which he really admires. I’m excited to see all the amazing things Matt will accomplish in the future. Trump wrote.

After Gaetz pulled his name from consideration, there was a broad feeling of relief at the Justice Department. One source told NBC News that “some events, like the sun chasing away the dark of night, are not surprising, they’re expected.” However, that doesn’t make me any less thankful for every sunrise.

“I now know what will be the first feather on my gratitude handprint turkey this Thanksgiving,” the office continued.

After describing the action as “such a relief,” another Justice Department official said that it’s “hard to imagine [Trump] appointing someone worse.” However, we shall see.

The president-elect selected longstanding Trump loyalist Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his next attorney general a few hours after Gaetz’s declaration.

Gaetz informed Trump of his choice Thursday morning, according to two Trump transition insiders who spoke to NBC News directly about it. The decision to opt out was Gaetz’s.

According to one of the sources, Gaetz’s confirmation was always going to be difficult, and Trump is anticipated to meet “very soon” with a fresh group of candidates for attorney general, with no one in particular at the top of the list. What that means for Trump’s choice of Todd Blanche as Gaetz’s deputy is unknown.

The transition team “welcomed” Gaetz’s departure, according to a third source close to Trump who told NBC News that “the [House Ethics] report started to leak out and there was no way for Matt to make it.”

Trump appointed Gaetz as his attorney general this week, but the Justice Department, which he would have headed if confirmed, also looked into claims of sex trafficking and having sex with a juvenile. The Justice Department decided not to charge Gaetz at the conclusion of the investigation, and he has strongly refuted those accusations.

 

 

The Ethics Committee’s probe was essentially terminated last week when he resigned from the House. Since 2021, the committee had been intermittently investigating the accusations made against him.

Two women who claim Gaetz paid them for sex provided testimony to the Ethics Committee this year, including one who claimed to have seen Gaetz have sex with a 17-year-old, which was described earlier this week by their attorney.

Following Gaetz’s declaration on Thursday, attorney Joel Leppard stated, “My clients are relieved to have this chapter behind them and eager to move forward with their lives.” “We hope that this provides everyone with ultimate closure.”

Committee members did not reach a consensus at their meeting on Wednesday over whether or not to release the report.

With Gaetz’s withdrawal, it’s unclear what the Ethics Committee will do. On December 5, its members will gather once more to continue their discussion of the issue.

According to meeting transcripts acquired by NBC News, staffers informed Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., during the Ethics Committee’s closed-door meeting on July 23 that a draft report on the committee’s probe was sufficiently advanced to be distributed to all committee members.

That day, staffers and members had assembled to remove Gaetz personally, but he never appeared.

Gaetz’s withdrawal should “end the discussion” for committee members regarding how they “move forward,” the guest told reporters.

“He is no longer a member of Congress, and so I think that this settles any involvement that the ethics committee should have in any matters involving Mr. Gaetz,” Guest stated.

A number of Democrats in the House had demanded that the study be made public. Republicans in the Senate who would have had to vote to confirm Gaetz publicly said that they would have liked to see the study included in the confirmation process.

Trump even “heavily worked the phones” to rally support for Gaetz, and he and vice president-elect JD Vance remained steadfast in their support of the candidate.

On Thursday morning, Vance had been on Capitol Hill arranging talks between senators and Pete Hegseth, another controversial choice for defense secretary. However, he left the Capitol just before Gaetz’s announcement. Additionally, Hegseth is accused of misbehavior, which he has refuted.

Before Gaetz’s news broke, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has opposed making the ethics report public, also departed the building; he and the House won’t be back until after Thanksgiving recess.

He is unlikely to receive enough votes to be confirmed, according to senators from both parties.

According to five people with direct knowledge, at least five Senate Republicans were “noes” on Gaetz, including Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Sen.-elect John Curtis of Utah. They had told other senators and people close to Trump that they were unlikely to be influenced.

At least 20 and possibly as many as 30 Senate Republicans, according to one source, felt extremely uneasy about having to cast a floor vote for Gaetz. If Vance cast a tiebreaking vote, Gaetz would only have to lose three Republicans in a floor vote.

Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told NBC News that the topic of the accusations came up during their meeting with Gaetz on Wednesday.

Ernst claimed that during their conversation, Gaetz raised the accusations directly.

“I think a lot of this will be worked out when he goes through a very fair confirmation process with Senator Grassley, but that’s all I have to say because he was very forthcoming,” Ernst continued. “I’m just holding off on passing judgment.” The new chair of the Judiciary Committee is Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa.

Collins told reporters after Gaetz’s statement Thursday that his choice to withdraw was the “best one he could have made” and that there were many “red flags” surrounding Gaetz.

“I believe it most likely reflects the meetings he had with senators yesterday as they began interviewing members of the Judiciary Committee.” Although I can’t say for sure, I believe he has prioritized his country, and I’m happy with his choice,” she continued.

“I respect former Representative Matt Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his name from consideration and appreciate his willingness to serve at the highest level of our government,” wrote Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Thursday on X, after openly endorsing Gaetz’s nomination.

“I think it’s a good thing” that Gaetz left, Mullin said on Thursday in an interview with NBC News. “There was no way, no path forward for him,” he stated.

In his resignation, Gaetz stated that he would not take the oath of office in the upcoming Congress. He declared that he had no plans to run for the Attorney General post in the Trump administration by taking the oath of office for the same position in the 119th Congress.