Matt Gaetz withdraws his name to be Donald Trump's attorney general - ABC News
By: ABC News
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Gaetz said his confirmation was "unfairly becoming a distraction."
ByAlexandra Hutzler and Katherine FauldersNovember 21, 2024, 12:51 PM
Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general.
"I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday," Gaetz wrote in a post on X. "I appreciate their thoughtful feedback - and the incredible support of so many. 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. 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."
"I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history," Gaetz added. "I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."
Gaetz informed Trump late Thursday morning that he'd be withdrawing, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Trump issued a statement after Gaetz's announcement saying he appreciated his "recent efforts" to seek Senate approval.
"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!"
President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 20, 2024.J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Trump announced last Wednesday he was tapping Gaetz to serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer. Gaetz, a conservative firebrand in Congress, resigned shortly after.
The choice shocked many Republicans on Capitol Hill and raised eyebrows within Justice Department.
Gaetz has been under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations, including accusations he had sex with minors, which he's long denied.
Sources told ABC News in the last few days it became clear to the Trump team that Gaetz was not going to have enough votes for a Senate confirmation with sources close to the president-elect telling ABC News "no path to 50" senators.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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Good. Gaetz is totally unqualified to hold any public office.
he must've heard there was a video ...
And he no longer does. Wonder if he is regretting his decision to resign from the House, although that was the only way he could stop the Ethics report from becoming available.
His new title with the Admin will be party drug czar.
Junior will be the first to show up for every party
He'll show up with his wife and the car keys go in the bowl...
LOL! I feel sorry for the woman who gets Jr's keys
And now you know why Kim is going...
poor matt, first time he's ever pulled out early ...
Like how many life sentences he can get for diddling with children
Goood, now it will interesting to see who trump nominates next. DeSantis?
My money's on another psychotic Fox News boot licker like Janine Pirro.
You mean like Obama's "right hand man" Holder?
That kind of boot licker?
Nope. Obama appreciated those who would actually give advice and had differing perspectives and weren't all "yes men" which is why he was such a successful President. Trump, on the other hand, wishes he had generals like Hitlers Generals because he thought Hitlers Generals were goose stepping boot lickers that only did what they were told and was unaware of the fact that several of them tried to assassinate Hitler. Since clearly Trump failed to learn actual history, he will inevitably repeat it.
Lol.
In his own words:
You really should introduce yourself to Obama.
Lol, ooops.
That photo up there? It shows what a sneaky shit he is
Dont get too excited. This will piss Trump off and likely make him worse.
I was thinking the same thing. It is interesting news, though.
Can I use a quote from your seed to start another one? I want to do something with all the great things Gaetz is going to do. I would be happy to start a thread instead. Your choice. I want you to get lots of comments
Feel free to do either.
I'm going to start a new thread
Is anything preventing Trump from installing Gaetz as AG in a recess appointment anyway?
Hopefully, common sense will prevail.
This is a Win/Win, the stupid fucker is out of Congress and won't be AG.
Yep.
Gaetz got his excuse to resign from Congress.
The House gets him out of Congress.
Senate Republicans can pat themselves on the back for killing a nomination and standing up to Trump.
Trump gets the heat taken off his other nominees by using Gaetz as a shield.
I agree that he was a poor choice.
I also agree with your assessment. He was looking for an out from this investigation, knowing the report will be leaked.
I hope Trump chooses someone that is not part of the establishment.
That's how we got Garland.....as payback for not being put on the SC.
Trump's choice for Sec. of Education with her face embedded in pro wrestlers crotch.
MAGA parents will eat it up. (WWE fans you know)
This is not photoshop by the way, it is real.
[✘]
"you didn't send a ring boy to my dressing room, bitch"
that steroid ballerina needed to pile drive her ...
Does this mean we can stop panicking about him now, or is it too soon?
If not him, what will we panic about today?
I nominate Christian nationalist fanatic Pete Hegseth. Before you say he's not a Christian nationalist fanatic check through his books and podcast appearances.
Pete Hegseth Plans To Create Christian Nationalist 'Educational Insurgency'
Ok then.
Pete Hegseth is the father of 7 kids, four that he biologically fathered and three by marriage. One of the children he fathered with a woman that was not his wife (he was married at the time). He was also accused of raping a woman he had met hours earlier at a political conference. He says the sex was consensual and he was not criminally charged. Hegseth wasnt married at the time but the woman was.
Yeah right.
Unless you think they're all going to magically come to agreement on abortion or gun control or taxation or almost any other controversial issue, that's probably true.
Do you really see yourself finding common ground on much of anything with Vic (for example)?
So was Joe Biden. Accusations are not always true.
Good ol' Christian values at work again
I skimmed through his book Battle For The American Mind. He is an extremist .
Is he really an extremist or does he just play one on television?
Sounds like he doesn't really believe most of what he says.
Christianity is fantastic.
It's the Christians that are the problem.
He is a sexual predator extremist, so I'm sure he'll feel right at home in the Trump administration.
Police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee
A California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her
The 22-page report, released by the city attorney’s office of Monterey, California, on Wednesday night in response to a public records request, lays out the competing narratives of what happened in new detail – including conflicting accounts of how intoxicated Hegseth and the woman were, and descriptions of video surveillance showing some of their movements that night.
His attorney has acknowledged that Hegseth later entered into a settlement agreement with his accuser that included an undisclosed monetary payment and a confidentiality clause.
Pete Hegseth: Police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee | CNN Politics
And we all know that people pay off accusers when they were completely innocent of any crime... /s
I wonder if he ever took showers with his pre teen [✘]
Well if you're going to be an extremist you should may as well be extreme about it.
So let me get this right... we're worried that he's going to somehow impose the extremist religious views he pretends to have but clearly doesn't? Or is it something else?
I think they are on the Education department pick.
I do think, however, they are starting to realize most members in the Senate are telling to fuck off and will approve pretty much everybody....
White nationalist tattoos and all s/
Crosses are bad …. At least here on NTers that is …
Apparently, they are associated with "xtian white nationalist Thumpers", whatever that is.
that's why trumpsters burn them ...
Hyperbolic nonsense
Ah, yes......using a source from 2016 to try and make it look relevant today.
What it sounds like is you are mad democrats declared their support for Trump.
I wonder what the black extremist groups voted for? I can assure you it wasn't Trump.
Oh Lawd, a guy with a xerox machine called himself the KKK and declared for Trump.. There must be dozens like him.. Dozens...
Funny how they don't get so excited when CNN's go to white nationalist Richard Spencer endorsed Kamala.
He is one of those "acceptable" white supremacists. Probably has a D next to his name, like most of them do.
One thing is for certain, the mexican drug cartels and human/child smugglers/sex traffickers were wanting harris to win. No doubt about that
Do you really believe that their position changed from then to now?
Only the small 'd' Democrats voted for Trump. Apparently, they felt more comfortable with a candidate with tiny hands and a micro-d versus a candidate with no 'd' at all.
matt gaetz wasn't a harris supporter.
... scum of the earth.
No, but you can bet drug cartels and other scum bags into human trafficking loved cackles open borders.
where did matt's drugs come from? what are the sex crimes that matt is accused of? harris prosecuted and sent undocumented criminals to prison or deported them for criminal activity. apparently it's too difficult for republicans to recognize criminal behavior now, never mind adjudicating it, when another republican flagrantly breaks the law.
Spencer was an intentional turd dumped in the Democrats punch bowl because he knew how toxic his endorsement would be. If anyone actually believes he voted for and was truly supporting Harris in this election they should probably have their heads examined. You simply don't go from shouting “Hail Trump! Hail our people!” and being greeted with Nazi salutes during a white nationalist event to claiming you're for a centrist diversity candidate.
[✘]
Don’t you know? Oh that’s right, you’re talking about allegations. What is real and not an allegation is cackles the border czar’s pathetic handling of the border.
That would be relevant if there were thousands or tens of thousands of murderers endorsing a specific candidate. One would have to wonder why sociopaths are supporting a specific candidate. In Trumps case, it's no mystery why white nationalists, white supremacists and the KKK support him, they recognize him as one of them.
[✘]
Isn't the plan to close the dept of education?
I'm curious whose mind you think would have been changed by that endorsement?
I believe his endorsement wasn't an attempt to sway white supremacist's voters to support Harris. It had two purposes. The first was to create a story for Trumpublicans to play on repeat on rightwing media so rightwing talking heads could proclaim Democrats are the real racists. An "Ah Ha! Gotcha!" story used to cover their own actual support of white supremacists. And two, to not sabotage his own actual favorite candidate that he hopes wins with a story Democrats would obviously run with if announced using it to prove Trump is a racist supported by white supremacists.
Though rational voters with more than half a brain likely don't need to hear about Trump being endorsed by well-known white supremacists to know that Trump is a racist. That would be like needing to see and read all the studies on the health hazards of high calorie high fat foods to know the KFC double Down might be bad for your heart...
Yep, next up. I’m waiting for the “man, Trumps cabinet sure is white.”
It’s coming …. Maybe after they try to bitch and whine Hegseth out of there.
I just read an article that the ones that started with the tattoo white supremacist bullshit are far left activists that were in the Guard same time Hegseth was.
Both are black and both are associated with far left organizations.
I think Hegseth will tell them to fuck off too.
[✘]
hegseth will meet with them to have a beer, and a couple roofies later, they'll both wake up with sore buttholes.
Sounds like an experienced opinion
You’re confusing him with andrew gillum
[✘]
[✘]
We dont have Beavis Gaetz to kick around anymore.
Dead ringer except for the hair color.
Called that one. Now he’s no longer a distraction in the house either. The whole point to nominating him I bet.
Agree
Yeah, sure. He’s just trying to stay out of jail. As a cabinet nominee, he will be investigated by DOJ whether Gaetz and Trump like it or not. What they find will be made public in confirmation hearings, and then some local law enforcement will come calling.
Well, no he won't because, as the seed title states, he withdrew his name from AG consideration.
Plus, he was previously investigated by the DOJ and not charged.
As he is now a private citizen, the HEC's release of the report would be pointless.
Gaetz was re-elected on Nov. 5th. The question arises as to whether he can take his seat in the new House in January. It may depend on the full terms of his resignation. There is also the question of whether he would want to return to Congress, which would lead to the release of the ethics report. More likely he's looking for a job in the right wing media and hoping to make a lot of money.
I think he just needs to disappear into the Florida swamps
Gator bail.
did you mean bait?
Yes, I did.
One of those girls looks like she's 12!
I'd watch that show...
Reality TV show about a bail bonds office in Florida...
If he returns the ethics report will be released to the full House. The chances of him returning are slim. DeSantis will have to call for a special election to fill that seat.
He’s already resigned his house seat
He did, but was his resignation from his current House seat inclusive of his seat in the new Congress to which he was just elected? It very well might have been but I don't know the answer to that. Do you?
It was reported earlier today on CNN that he can take the seat in the new Congress as his resignation is from the current Congress. They did not know however if the Ethics Committee report would come back into play as that investigation was for the current Congress and not the next one.
Politics, yay!!!
That is what I was indicating, unless he somehow made his resignation inclusive of his seat in the new Congress, which, apparently, he did not.
It's an interesting point about the Ethics Committee report. It shouldn't really matter as to whether it can be released just because the investigation was conducted by the current Congress. If they don't have a rule on that issue, why should it make a difference? If he's a miscreant and unethical the Committee's report should be released regardless of when he is seated.
they love their legal loopholes, don't they? I think the taxpayers deserve to be informed about an elected representative that has committed felonies along with sex trafficking a minor ...
So what kind of "great things" is Gaetz going to do? Be creative and don't hold back on anything
Ok I'll start. He'll start a cooking school in prison using ingredients from the commissary. Martha Stewart will be a guest lecturer
Jeffery Epstein will as well ….. oh wait …….
He will start his own lobbying firm to legalize party drugs and prostitution.
Does Megyn Kelly have a teenage daughter that looks like her?
I think she does but let's not go there
I guess he could play Beavis in the new live action movie "Beavis And Butthead Fornicate America"
Gaetz stated a few months back that he was going to run for governor when DeSantis term is up. I think that is a wild dream on his part.
Trump's still a dictator though of course.
Yes and he will singlehandedly kill democracy.
Enjoy it while you can
"If you think these Republicans are going to stand up to Donald Trump, you have not been paying attention”
Dalia lithwick doing dalia lithwick things for slate
Ammon Bundy
This just in. Trump names Pam Bondi for AG
And she appears to be well qualified for the job.
No one should argue with that.