Matt Gaetz Just Withdrew From His Attorney General Nomination
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next U.S. attorney general amid allegations that he attended sex parties with minors.
He announced his decision on social media Thursday after holding meetings with some of the senators whose support he would have needed to be confirmed.
“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,” Gaetz wrote.
“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,” the post read.
Gaetz spent just over one week as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department, despite having once been the subject of a Justice Department investigation into alleged sex trafficking. Federal prosecutors declined to file charges against him last year.
A separate investigation by the House Ethics Committee had been winding down at the time Trump nominated Gaetz, with its members debating whether to release a report on their findings. They deadlocked on the decision Wednesday.
The Florida congressman resigned his seat in Congress last week.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he respected Gaetz’s decision.
@mattgaetz/Twitter / Via x.com
“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,” Trump wrote.
“Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!” he concluded.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
