Trump AG pick Matt Gaetz says he's stepping down

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks to the media after speaking on the House floor about a possible nullification motion to oust U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington , DC, October 2. 2023.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

Matt Gaetz announced Thursday that he is stepping down from President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of U.S. attorney general, ending the controversial candidacy that brought earlier allegations of sexual misconduct into the spotlight.

“I had great meetings with the senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful comments – and the incredible support from so many people,” Gaetz said in a statement posted to his X account.

“While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” the former Republican congressman from Florida said.

“There is no time to waste in a needlessly prolonged fight in Washington, which is why I will withdraw my name from consideration for attorney general,” he said.

The Justice Department’s investigation into whether Gaetz sex trafficked a minor girl ended last year without charges being filed. But the House Ethics Committee later relaunched its own investigation into allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, granted special favors to contacts personal and allegedly attempted to obstruct the government’s efforts to investigate him.

CNN’s Paula Reid said Gaetz’s removal came less than an hour after she was contacted by the outlet for comment on its report that a woman told the ethics committee she had sex with Gaetz twice in 2017, when she was 17 years old.

Gaetz denied having sex with an underage girl. His decision to resign from Congress after being named AG effectively ended the ethics investigation by removing him from the committee’s purview.

The House committee, evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, deadlocked Wednesday on a vote to release a report on its investigation of Gaetz.

Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, the committee’s top Democrat, said members agreed to meet again on Dec. 5 to “further consider this issue.”

Trump said on Truth Social on Thursday that Gaetz was “doing very well but, at the same time, he didn’t want to be a distraction to the administration, which he has a lot of respect for.”

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team, said in a statement that the president-elect “remains committed to choosing a leader for the Justice Department who will firmly defend the Constitution and end the militarization of our justice system.”

Trump “will announce his new decision when it is made,” Leavitt told CNBC.

Had Gaetz continued to seek the role of AG, he may have faced a difficult path to confirmation, even in a Republican-controlled Senate.

The former lawmaker, who often clashed with members of both parties in Congress, reportedly faced opposition from a significant number of Republican senators.

Gaetz and Vice President-elect JD Vance met with senators Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after speaking with Gaetz and Vance that he tends to “defer to the choices of the president’s cabinet unless the evidence suggests disqualification.”

Democrats, meanwhile, were working to get more information about the allegations against Gaetz.

On Wednesday, the Democratic majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the FBI to turn over all evidence collected during its investigation into the former congressman.

“The serious public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the federal government’s chief law enforcement officer,” their letter read.