Matt Gaetz Pulls Name From Attorney General Consideration

Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to become Donald Trump’s attorney general.

The former Florida congressman, who has long been dogged by sexual-misconduct allegations, made the announcement a day after pitching himself to senators on Capitol Hill.

“I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday,” Gaetz wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. “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.”

Trump’s announcement that Gaetz was his pick to lead the Justice Department set off a frenzy inside and outside of Congress — shocking the senators tasked with confirming the president-elect’s nominees and leading to a new wave of scrutiny of his alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. The Justice Department investigated Gaetz over the alleged relationship, but ultimately declined to bring charges. The House Ethics Committee also investigated Gaetz’s alleged sexual misconduct, and was set to vote on whether to release its findings last week. The committee held off after Gaetz resigned from Congress following Trump tapping him to lead the Justice Department.

Trump responded to Gaetz’s decision to drop out in a statement posted to Truth Social. “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” the president-elect wrote. “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!”
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Gaetz’s withdrawal comes a day after the Ethics Committee convened to discuss what to do about its investigation, with the committee’s Republicans reportedly voting to shield the committee’s findings from the public. CNN reported on Thursday that Gaetz made his announcement less than an hour after the network informed him they were about to run a story about how the woman Gaetz allegedly slept with when she was 17 told the Ethics Committee that she had multiple sexual encounters with him when she was still a minor.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.