As we discussed, Donald Trump has chosen Matt Gaetz as his nominee for Attorney General. Gaetz has long been on the national radar as a credibly accused statutory rapist and human trafficker who has been investigated by federal authorities, state authorities and the House Ethics Committee. In fact, it looks like Gaetz’s nomination to DOJ came at just the right moment, because the Ethics Committee was going to release their findings in their years-long investigation today, Friday. That was the plan before Gaetz’s nomination, and he’s already resigned his seat in the House. So, is the Ethics Committee still going to release their report? Because Republican Senators are actually interested in vetting Gaetz.
Republican senators are preparing for a robust vetting of Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in details from a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former congressman from Florida.
The ethics panel has been investigating Gaetz off and on since 2021, most recently focusing on alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other allegations. But the results of that probe may not become public because Gaetz resigned from the House at noon on Thursday. The Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting House members.
Trump’s choice of Gaetz was a surprise to nearly everyone, including members of his own party and officials at the Justice Department — in part because of the Ethics investigation, his past legal problems and his reputation as a rabble-rouser in Congress.
A source familiar with the process told NBC News that Gaetz had been consulting Trump on who would be best to run the Justice Department. Gaetz did not ask for the role, that person said, but Trump asked him to take on the job Wednesday morning, just hours before the decision was made public. Many Republican senators, including members of the GOP-led Judiciary Committee that will oversee Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, said they’ll want to see the details of the House Ethics investigation into Gaetz.
“I think it would be helpful,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah, said he would “absolutely” like to see the findings of the House Ethics Committee investigation, saying, “I don’t know the technicalities, or whether or not we would see that, but I think that would be very relevant.”
The House Ethics Committee is meeting today, and it’s widely assumed that they’ll privately debate whether or not they’ll still release their report. Meanwhile, someone on the committee has already leaked some of the testimony The committee heard testimony from a woman, now in her 20s, who said that Matt Gaetz had sex with her when she was only 17 years old.
The woman who was at the center of a yearslong Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the now-former Florida congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Over the summer, the House Ethics Committee subpoenaed the woman at the center of the probe — who is now in her 20s — and she sat for multiple days of testimony where she testified to the committee that Gaetz had sex with her when she was a minor in high school, sources close to the investigation said.
“These allegations are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress,” Gaetz said in response to ABC News’ reporting. “This false smear following a three-year criminal investigation should be viewed with great skepticism.”
The Justice Department spent years probing the allegations against Gaetz, including allegations of obstruction of justice, before informing Gaetz last year that it would not bring charges. Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing related to the Justice Department probe. In September, he released a detailed response to questions sent to him by the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating allegations of alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, reiterating his denial of the allegations.
Again, I seriously doubt anything will come from all of these reports of nervous Republicans, reluctant to confirm Gaetz. Gaetz will either be confirmed or Trump will push Congress into recess and he’ll get Gaetz as a recess appointment. Those are the only two options here – Matt Gaetz, a man widely known to have a penchant for drugs, Botox and teenagers, is absolutely going to be Attorney General.
Fox News contributor Ben Domenech weighs in on Matt Gaetz and commits a brutal murder. pic.twitter.com/ImGKUWKYs6
— i/o (@eyeslasho) November 14, 2024
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