JULIA CHAIB
Chosen to head the Department of Justice by Donald Trump, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz said this Thursday (21) that he will withdraw his nomination for the position.
The decision was made amid the chances of him being denied the nomination by the Senate and as he faces allegations of sexual misconduct. This is the first casualty in the team announced by Trump so far.
“There is no time to waste on an unnecessarily protracted fight in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s Justice Department should be up and running by Day 1,” Gaetz wrote on X.
“I had excellent meetings with the Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support from so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” he said.
This Tuesday (20), the United States House Ethics Committee met this Wednesday (20), but ended with no agreement on the decision to publish or not the report on the alleged case of sexual misconduct committed.
Gaetz resigned his seat in the House days before the Ethics Committee decided whether to release the report of an investigation, begun in 2021, into reports of a woman who says she had sexual relations with him when she was 17, and regarding the use of drugs. The resignation was seen as an attempt by the former deputy to avoid the disclosure of the accusations against him.
This Tuesday, a report from the New York Times stated that a federal investigation discovered a series of payments made by Gaetz and a group of friends to women, including a 17-year-old teenager, who participated in sex parties between 2017 and 2020. As the The Department of Justice did not formally denounce it, the document remained secret, but is with the House Ethics Committee.
This week, an unidentified hacker also gained access to a computer file shared over a secure link among lawyers whose clients gave damaging testimony related to Gaetz. The 24-document file includes sworn testimony from the woman who said she had sex with the former congressman when she was 17, as well as corroborating testimony from a second woman who said she witnessed the encounter.
Although Republicans in the Chamber acted this Tuesday to maintain the confidentiality of the information and avoid even more noise surrounding Trump’s nomination, senators from the president-elect’s party were already expressing opposition to the choice.
This Wednesday, Gaetz went to Congress accompanied by the vice president-elect, JD Vance, to meet with parliamentarians in an attempt to improve the climate. The chances of Gaetz being rejected by the Senate were considerable, which is why he made the decision to withdraw the nomination.
Behind the scenes, parliamentary aides complain that he swore at senators. Therefore, there is no certainty that the Republicans will give all their votes to approve it. According to The New York Times, Trump himself knows this, but has insisted on keeping the nomination. The president-elect has participated in some way in the offensive to guarantee support for his ally in the Senate. Other Republicans have also been working to garner votes.
