US Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks to members of the media after speaking on the House floor about a possible Motion to Vacate to oust US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, outside the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 2, 2023.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Matt Gaetz said Thursday he is withdrawing as President-elect Donald Trump‘s pick for U.S. attorney general, ending the controversial bid that put prior allegations of sexual misconduct in the spotlight.
“I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many,” Gaetz said in a statement posted on his X account.
“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,” said the former Republican congressman from Florida.
“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,” he said.
The Department of Justice’s investigation into whether Gaetz sex trafficked a minor girl ended last year without charges being filed. But the House Ethics Committee later restarted its own probe of allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, gave special favors to personal contacts, and tried to obstruct government efforts to investigate him.
CNN’s Paula Reid said that Gaetz’s withdrawal came less than an hour after he was contacted by the outlet for comment on its report that a woman told the ethics panel that she had had two sexual encounters with Gaetz in 2017, when she was 17 years old.
Gaetz has denied having sex with an underage girl. His decision to resign from Congress after being tapped for AG effectively ended the ethics probe by removing him from the committee’s jurisdiction.
The House committee, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, on Wednesday deadlocked on a vote to release a report on its probe of Gaetz.
Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said the members agreed to reconvene on Dec. 5 to “further consider this matter.”
Trump said on Truth Social later Thursday that Gaetz “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.”
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said in a statement that the president-elect “remains committed to choosing a leader for the Department of Justice who will strongly defend the Constitution and end the weaponization of our justice system.”
Trump “will announce his new decision when it is made,” Leavitt told CNBC.
Had Gaetz continued to seek the AG role, he may have faced an uphill path to confirmation even in a Republican-controlled Senate.
The former lawmaker, who often clashed with members of both parties in Congress, was reportedly opposed by a significant number of GOP senators.
Gaetz and Vice President-elect JD Vance met with senators Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after speaking with Gaetz and Vance that he tends “to defer to presidential cabinet choices unless the evidence suggests disqualification.”
Vance in an X post Thursday afternoon said he was “extremely grateful for the work Matt put into the nomination process.”
“He made his decision to withdraw entirely out of respect for President Trump’s administration,” Vance wrote.
Gaetz’s withdrawal also came one day after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democratic majority urged the FBI to turn over all the evidence it had gathered from its investigation into the former congressman.
“The grave public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government,” their letter read.
Gaetz is the first of Trump’s picks to pull his name out of contention to join the incoming administration.
He is not the only one facing allegations of misconduct. Police records released Wednesday night showed Pete Hegseth, Trump’s selection to lead the Pentagon, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017.
Hegseth’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, told NBC News that the report “confirms what I’ve said all along, that the incident was fully investigated and police found the allegation to be false, which is why no charges were filed.”
The police did not provide a reason for not charging Hegseth.
Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor, has denied the allegations. His lawyer acknowledged he paid the woman an undisclosed amount as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement. Parlatore has accused the woman of “trying to squeeze Mr. Hegseth for money.”
— CNBC’s Ece Yildirim contributed to this report.
