Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be attorney general

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz dropped his bid to become President-elect Donald Trump’s next attorney general on Thursday, closing out a campaign that was dogged by sexual misconduct allegations and the looming specter of an unreleased ethics report.

With the Florida Republican’s withdrawal, the Senate will avoid what was shaping up to be a fiery confirmation process, with Democrats escalating their push for more information on Gaetz while some Republicans asserted the former lawmaker deserved to have a hearing.

Gaetz had met Wednesday with several Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gaetz, who has been accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl, has steadfastly denied wrongdoing.

“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 said in a post on social media. “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,” he said.

The withdrawal also comes one day after the House Ethics Committee announced it would not release information about its probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, and Senate Democrats requested the “complete evidentiary file,” in a closed Justice Department investigation involving Gaetz, which did not lead to criminal charges against him.

Trump posted on social media that he appreciated Gaetz’ efforts to seek 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 posted. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”