Gaetz Withdraws From Attorney General Consideration

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Facts

  • Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration as Pres.-elect Donald Trump's pick for US attorney general.[1][2]
  • After meeting with Republican senators, Gaetz said he was withdrawing because "it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition."[3]
  • This comes a day after the House Ethics Committee failed to reach an agreement to release a report concerning misconduct allegations against Gaetz.[4][5]
  • In June, the committee announced that it was to review, amongst other claims, allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor as well as illicit drug use. The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) investigated the accusations for three years without bringing charges and Gaetz denies all allegations.[6][7]
  • Committee Chairman Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) announced after a two-hour private meeting that there was "no agreement" to release the report after voting on the matter.[8][9]
  • Committee ranking member Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) revealed that the vote was taken on party lines and that the committee will reconsider the report on Dec. 5. Since then, Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) has introduced a privileged resolution into the House to require a vote by the full chamber on the release of the report.[10][11]

Sources: [1]NPR Online News, [2]X (a), [3]CNN (a), [4]FOX News, [5]CNN (b), [6]Verity, [7]House Committee on Ethics, [8]Washington Examiner, [9]NBC, [10]X (b) and [11]Newsweek.

Narratives

  • Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. As a profoundly gifted lawyer, Gaetz would have rooted out systemic corruption at the DOJ. Though his decision to withdraw his name is a setback for the president-elect, this is an unfortunate outcome of political witch-hunting and a smear campaign by the Washington establishment, who were terrified that Gaetz would have cleansed the institutional corruption and leftist lawfare that has ravaged America.
  • Democratic narrative, as provided by BBC News. With a potentially damning congressional ethics report still hanging over his head, it was natural that he wouldn't have been allowed to shirk responsibility for his alleged sexual misconduct. So, Gaetz saw the writing on the wall that he wouldn't win enough GOP support to be confirmed and withdrew of his own volition to avoid having his name pulled publicly by Trump.