President-elect Donald Trump selected Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to serve as his attorney general Wednesday, a move that stunned some lawmakers in his own party and repulsed others.
Gaetz, 42, had not been reported as in contention for the powerful administration spot but has been a loyal supporter of the 45th president and has been trying to influence the administration choices being made at Mar-a-Lago.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that Gaetz resigned from Congress “effective immediately” soon after Trump’s shock announcement, which came reportedly before a Friday vote on whether to release a House Ethics Committee report related to allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use involving the now former congressman.
Gaetz’s resignation will end the investigation that was initiated in April 2021, over allegations that the congressman engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.
The ethics panel was reportedly set to vote Friday on whether to release its “highly damaging” report on Gaetz, according to Punchbowl News.
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With Gaetz resigning, the panel no longer has jurisdiction to pursue the investigation.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
When he helped engineer the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy said it was because he refused to shut down the investigation.
“[The] person who raised the issue, he‘s got an ethics complaint about paying, sleeping with a 17-year-old,” McCarthy told CNN at the RNC.
Gaetz’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Johnson indicated that he is unaware of the status of the ethics probe, and signaled that Gaetz’s abrupt resignation was strictly related to getting a Republican replacement in the House as soon as possible. The speaker hopes to fill the now-vacant Florida 1st District seat as soon as Jan. 3.
A House Ethics Committee spokesperson declined The Post’s request for comment.
Gaetz would replace AG Merrick Garland, who the Trump team has accused of going after Republicans and who also led a sex-trafficking investigation into the Floridian, which the Department of Justice eventually dropped.
The news of Gaetz’s appointment rankled moderate Senate Republicans, and several House GOP members meeting on Capitol Hill burst into uproarious laughter upon hearing the announcement, a source spilled to The Post.
Other sources informed The Hill and Politico that some gasped and one was seen laughing to the point of tears in a room where members were meeting to select their leadership team for the 119th Congress.
“Are you s—ting me?” Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) told the Huffington Post when pressed for his reaction, summarizing the thoughts of many.
“I was shocked at the nomination,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told Punchbowl News. “This is why the Senate’s advise-and-consent process is so important. I’m sure that there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz’s hearing.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters that the selection of Gaetz was “not on my bingo card.”
“We need a serious attorney general,” she said, adding pointedly: “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) told CNN that while “I completely trust President Trump’s decision-making on this one,” Gaetz had to “come to the Senate and sell himself.”
His comment comes a year after the Oklahoma Republican told CNN, “We had all seen the videos (Gaetz) was showing on the House floor … of the girls that he had slept with. He’d brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night” — and accusation Gaetz said was “a lie.”
One House GOP aide told The Post on the condition of anonymity that many lawmakers were fearful of expressing their true feelings about the Gaetz pick — because they don’t “want to be on the prosecution list.”
Another GOP aide predicted that Gaetz would not be confirmed by the GOP-led Senate, saying: “This is all a play to become a martyr to boost [Gaetz’s 2026] gubernatorial prospects [in Florida].”
But even some Democrats came to the congressman’s defense.
He is “fiercely loyal and competent” and “will turn that into being the most powerful attorney general in American history,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) told Spectrum News 13.
“This is what the American people voted for, right?” he asked.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) told reporters that Trump didn’t need Senate Republicans’ help to confirm Gaetz and could directly install the Floridian via a “recess appointment.”
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