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 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 wrote. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

Gaetz’s withdrawal opens up a key spot in the Trump administration, an official that will likely be tasked with implementing Trump’s plans to remake an agency he fumed at during the campaign trial.

Senate reactions

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he respected Gaetz’s decision to withdraw. “I look forward to working with President Trump regarding future nominees to get this important job up and running,” Graham said in a statement.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, who is in line to lead Judiciary next year and would have handled the Gaetz confirmation hearings, told a reporter to look at his social media account for a comment.

“I respect Gaetz decision &look fwd 2helping PresTrump confirm qualified noms 2reform Dept of Justice &bring TRANSPARENCY/ACCOUNTABILITY Trump’s mission = DRAIN THE SWAMP& I would add get some1 who will answer my hundreds of outstanding oversight letters sitting at Biden DOJ/FBI,” Grassley had posted.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Gaetz withdrawal could have reflected the meetings he had with senators on Wednesday. “I don’t know that for a fact, but I think that he has put country first,” she said.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who had clashed with Gaetz, said he trusts Trump’s ability “to pick some really good people, and he’s done that for his whole career, through his business career, to when he was in office last time, to his campaign.”

“Matt’s decisions were his decisions, it has nothing to do with me,” Mullin said.

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Gaetz “clearly got a message from his Republican colleagues.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., a Judiciary Committee member, said he was surprised when he was shown the tweet. “I said, ‘So double check it and make sure it’s not one of those fake news tweets.’”

“When we met we mostly talked about procedure, how a Judiciary confirmation hearing works,” Kennedy said. “We talked about the Department of Justice, and the decision under President Biden to begin weaponizing the Department of Justice … and I commented that, in my judgment, in America, we don’t prosecute our political enemies.”

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