The announcement comes days after a lawyer for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions.
Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from the race for attorney general, following his involvement in a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the country’s top federal law enforcement official.
The Republican’s announcement comes a day after he met with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department.
His withdrawal is a setback for Mr. Trump’s efforts to install unwavering loyalists in his new administration.
By bowing, Mr. Gaetz avoided what was expected to be a bitter confirmation battle that would have tested how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to confirm Mr. Trump’s controversial cabinet choices.
“While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Mr. Gaetz said in a statement announcing his decision.
“There is no time to waste on a needlessly prolonged feud in Washington, which is why I will remove my name from the list of candidates for attorney general. The Trump Justice Department must be in place and ready from day one.”
Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts to obtain authorization to be attorney general. He was doing very well but, at the same time, he did not want to be a distraction to the administration, for which he has a lot of respect Matt has a bright future ahead of him, and I can’t wait to see all the great things he does!
A veteran of the first Trump administration to the rescue
Mr. Trump has nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to replace him.
“Pam served as a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she got tough on violent criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida families,” the president-elect wrote in a post on his social media platform, TruthSocial.
Ms. Bondi served in the first Trump administration as a member of the Commission on Opioids and Drug Abuse.
Mr. Gaetz’s announcement comes days after a lawyer for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Mr. Gaetz paid them for multi-party sex. repeated from 2017, when Mr. Gaetz was a Florida congressman.
One of the women said she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old woman at a party in Florida in 2017, according to the attorney, Joel Leppard.
According to Joel Leppard, his client said she didn’t think Gaetz knew the girl was underage, that he ended their relationship when he found out and didn’t take her back until after she turned 18. The age of consent in Florida is 18.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into allegations of sex trafficking involving minors had concluded without any federal charges being filed against him.
Mr. Gaetz’s political future remains uncertain.
He had abruptly resigned his seat in Congress when he was chosen to serve as attorney general.
The move was seen as a way to end the ethics investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.
Controversial nominations
Donald Trump has made no secret of his intention to disrupt the political order established in Washington and to install loyalists in power rather than professionals in the sphere which would have fallen to them.
Thus, the sulphurous boss of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk (whose support played, for many observers, a significant role in Trump’s return to the presidency) and the former candidate for the Republican primary and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will direct a new Department of Government Effectiveness.
The new tenant of the White House proposed Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., former lawyer and conspiracy figure, an outspoken anti-vax, for the post of Minister of Health.
The president-elect then chose Chris Wright to serve as Secretary of Energy in his second government. CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Chris Wright is a staunch defender of the fossil fuel industry and has repeatedly denied the existence of a global climate crisis.
And, finally, Linda McMahon, former head of the American wrestling federation WWE, will be the future Secretary of Education, while Mehmet Oz, former star surgeon of American TV sets, would be responsible for the federal health care programs Medicare and Medicaid.