Matt Gaetz drops bid to be Trump’s attorney general

Matt Gaetz Thursday abruptly dropped his bid to be President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general amid growing allegations involving drugs and paid sex with young women.

“It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction,” Gaetz tweeted. “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.”

CNN reported Thursday morning that it planned to reveal new reporting that Gaetz engaged in a second sexual encounter with a girl who was only 17 at the time

Gaetz pulled the plug on his bid to be the nation’s top law-enforcement officer.

The embattled Trump pick had insisted he was planning to fight to salvage the Gaetz nomination, which faced an uphill battle to win the required 50 senators in a confirmation hearing.

Gaetz already resigned his Florida congressional seat last week in what many believed was a ploy to avoid disclosure of a congressional Ethics Committee report.

The former lawmaker had won a small victory Wednesday when Republicans on the House Ethics Committee decided not to immediately release a report on his alleged misdeeds.

The panel agreed to meet again in early December, when it could release the report or seek to permanently shelve it on the grounds that he is no longer a member of the House.

Gaetz met privately for hours Wednesday with Republican senators who have heard questions about the allegations and will be considering their votes on his nomination.

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