By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and FARNOUSH AMIRI, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, was once implicated in a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation he was tasked with to lead and was reviewed by the House Ethics Committee. following allegations of sexual misconduct.
That investigation effectively ended Wednesday, when Gaetz resigned from Congress.
Gaetz, a staunch Trump defender, has spent years amid scandals that threaten to derail his confirmation as the nation’s top federal law enforcement official by the Republican-led Senate.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving minor girls had concluded without any federal charges against him.
Trump’s attorney general is expected to oversee sweeping changes to the Justice Department, which has been the target of Trump’s ire following two criminal cases filed by him accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump, who has portrayed himself as the victim of politically motivated prosecutions, repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to retaliate against his political enemies if he was returned to the White House.
Gaetz is unlikely to be confirmed in time to oversee special counsel Jack Smith, who has filed two federal indictments against Trump that are both expected to expire before the new president takes office. Smith is expected to leave his post before Trump takes office, but special advisers are expected to produce reports on their work that are historically made public, and it remains unclear when such a document might be released.
In a statement announcing his choice Wednesday, Trump said Gaetz would eliminate “systemic corruption” at the Justice Department and return the department “to its true mission of fighting crime and upholding our democracy and our Constitution.”
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gaetz wrote: “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General! »
Hours before the announcement, Gaetz said in a social media post that there needed to be “full legal pressure against this ARMED government.” He added: “And if that means REMOVING every single one of the three agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to go!” » If confirmed as attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and ATF, officially known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
At a private meeting of House Republicans, the news that Trump had chosen Gaetz to lead the Justice Department came as a shock. Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho said he found it hard to believe Gaetz would be able to get through the Senate confirmation process. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she did not believe Gaetz was a serious candidate.
Some Gaetz allies in the House have defended him as Trump’s choice, pointing to his experience as a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Asked Wednesday whether she thought Gaetz could be confirmed, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a fellow Florida Republican, told reporters that many would try to “smear him” but that “the evidence will speak for itself.” “themselves.”
The federal sex trafficking investigation that began under Attorney General Bill Barr during Trump’s first term focused on allegations that Gaetz and his former political ally Joel Greenberg paid for underage girls and escorts or allegedly offered them gifts in exchange for sex.
Greenberg, a fellow Republican who was a tax collector in Florida’s Seminole County, admitted as part of a 2021 plea deal with prosecutors that he paid women and an underage girl for sex with him and other men. The men were not identified in court documents when he pleaded guilty. Greenberg was sentenced at the end of 2022 to 11 years in prison.
Federal investigators have examined a trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas with a group of women and a doctor who donated to his campaign, and whether the women were paid or received gifts to have sex with men , according to people familiar with the matter. not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. Prosecutors also investigated whether Gaetz and his associates attempted to secure government jobs for certain women, and examined Gaetz’s ties to the medical marijuana industry, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation sponsored by Gaetz, the sources said.
Gaetz was still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations that he was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
The committee began its review of Gaetz in April 2021, postponed its work in response to a request from the Justice Department, and resumed its work shortly after Gaetz announced that the Justice Department had terminated a sex trafficking investigation.
Over the summer, the committee provided an unusual public update on its long-running investigation, saying its review now includes whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, agreed improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations into his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all allegations brought before the committee.
Rep. Michael Guest, Republican chairman of the House Ethics Committee, previously told The Associated Press that Gaetz’s appointment does not change the panel’s ongoing investigation. But Gaetz’s resignation means the commission will no longer have jurisdiction to continue its investigation.
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker, Lisa Mascaro, Michael Balsamo and Stephen Groves contributed from Washington.
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