The former congressman withdrew as Trump’s attorney general nominee

Reply to Matt Gaetz after he resigned his seat on his confirmation to become the Attorney General of the U.S. House of Representatives

Gaetz, a firebrand from Florida who is also a loyal Trump supporter, resigned his seat before the panel voted on the report, but insists he did nothing wrong.

After meeting with Republican senators to discuss his nomination, Gaetz, a conservative firebrand from Florida and a loyal Trump defender, wrote on social media Thursday that “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

One of Leppard’s clients told the committee that she witnessed Gaetz having sex with a minor at a party in July 2017. The woman also detailed how Gaetz paid them — with Venmo and PayPal, with notations and dates for each occasion.

The US House Committee on Ethics is not in a position to release its report into former congressman Matt Gaetz’s nomination to serve as Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Panel Chair Michael Guest told reporters that the committee didn’t agree on how to release the report after they met behind closed doors.

The issue will be reconsidered in a meeting on December 5, after Ranking Member Susan Wild said there was no consensus on it.

Wild said that a vote was taken. “As many of you know, this committee is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans — five Dems, five Republicans — which means that in order to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side … that did not happen in today’s vote.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson warned that releasing the report violated the practice of the panel not publicly revealing any information about probes of lawmakers who were no long members of the House, saying it would open “Pandora’s box.”

But House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest told NPR about the speaker, “He will not be influencing the decision of the committee. We will make a decision when we meet.

97 House Democrats wrote a letter to the committee requesting the immediate release of its report. Sean Casten, D- Ill., said Wednesday that he plans to force a full vote on the report’s release.

The Campaign Legal Center’s Kedric Payne said it was possible for the panel to release their reports after members left. They just typically don’t.”

Matt Gaetz’s “Linch Mob” is a distraction for the White House, but it’s not. Why he‘s leaving the Senate

The Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob with unverified allegations being treated as if they are true, according to him. I have seen this movie before.” He didn’t explicitly say he would vote for Gaetz, but urged his colleagues not to “join the lynch mob” and give him the chance to make his case.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking 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. I am looking forward to seeing all of Matt’s great things! Trump posted on social media after Gaetz dropped out.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is withdrawing his candidacy to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general, after sex trafficking and drug use allegations threatened to imperil his confirmation.

“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 continued.

It’s unclear if Gaetz can return to Congress now, since he resigned from the current session but had already been voted into the next session for his district in Florida — or whether Trump will give him another spot in his administration.

News of his withdrawal broke as senators were shuffling between a vote and lunch meetings. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who met with Gaetz a day earlier, ignored reporters’ questions in the hallways.

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins noted that there were red flags after she withdrew from the Gaetz nomination.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said he would not second-guess Trump’s decision to tap Gaetz, but that the president needed an attorney general that both he and the senate “can have confidence in.”

“The president has the right to make the nominations that he sees fit,” he said. There is a Senate responsibility for advice and consent. And in this particular case, I think there was advice offered rather than consent.”

There appeared to be a hint that Gaetz’s nomination would be a major distraction, said Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

“Good on him to recognize that and be self-aware and provide President Trump with an opportunity to choose someone who’s equally tenacious about addressing the Department of Justice in its direction…and do it with someone who is going to have fewer headwinds in the Senate,” she said.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told NPR she was “grateful that the president has plenty of time to find a new nominee.” Ernst did not elaborate on who may be other options for the nomination.

The incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee did not know who the nominee might be.