Matt Gaetz withdraws nomination for Attorney General

(Patria) - Former Republican Representative Matt Gaetz is withdrawing his name from consideration for the position of Attorney General. He was nominated by newly elected US President Donald Trump, VOA reports.

"I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback and the incredible support of many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation has unfairly become a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition," Gaetz wrote on the X platform.

I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. 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…

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 21, 2024

The U.S. House Ethics Committee was unable to reach an agreement on Wednesday regarding whether to release findings from its nearly completed report on Gaetz.

The committee chairman, Republican Representative Michael Guest, emerged from a lengthy committee meeting, stating, "There was no committee agreement to release the report." He declined further comment.

Gaetz has been accused of sexual abuse and illicit drug use before being chosen by Trump to become the country's top law enforcement official in an administration taking office on January 20.

ABC News and The Washington Post reported that the committee obtained documents showing Gaetz paid two women who appeared before the committee as witnesses a total of more than $10,000 between July 2017 and the end of January 2019.

The women, who were over 18 at the time of the payments, told the council that some of the money was for sex. Trump's transition spokesperson defended Gaetz in a statement.

"The Department of Justice has had access to approximately every financial transaction Matt Gaetz has ever made and has concluded that he committed no crime. These leaks are intended to undermine the mandate of people to reform the Department of Justice, with Gaetz at the head of the agency," the spokesperson said.

Several U.S. senators, both Democrats and Republicans, had called for the report to be released so they could consider the scope of Gaetz's past while undertaking their constitutionally mandated role of confirming or rejecting candidates for the new cabinet president.

Hours after Trump named him as a candidate, Gaetz (42) resigned from Congress, even though he had just been re-elected for a fifth term. His resignation ended the House Ethics Committee investigation, which was nearing its conclusion.

Gaetz was at the Capitol on Wednesday to meet with some of the senators who would vote on his nomination.

The Senate has not voted to reject a presidential candidate for a cabinet position since 1989, with members of both political parties giving broad deference to new presidents to fill top-level positions with their chosen appointees.