Matt Gaetz, the Republican chosen by Donald Trump as Attorney General in his future administration, is increasingly finding himself in tight shoes. Everything revolves around paying women for sex and sharing a bed with a minor, which does not seem to make it easy to get through the hearing on his appointment unscathed.
In 2021, federal agents began investigating Matt Gaetz, now 42. This came after Gaetz was accused by at least two women of paying them for sex. One of the two also said he witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old.
That investigation revealed that between 2017 and 2020, numerous payments were made by Gaetz and dozens of friends and colleagues who all participated in drug-fueled sex parties, the report said. The New York Times to know. According to the attorney for the two women and the document obtained by the newspaper, they paid them a total of about $10,000 for sex. The document also shows that a friend of Gaetz paid a woman who was 17 at the time to one of the parties.
Appointment in jeopardy?
The investigation did not lead to a prosecution, partly because the women ultimately did not file a complaint, but could become very important now that Donald Trump has chosen Gaetz to become his attorney general when he becomes president in January. After all, every minister must be screened and then approved by a sufficient number of MPs in the House of Representatives.
The Republicans in that House already voted on Wednesday against the release of an investigative report from the ethics committee, where the document that The New York Times got hold of is part of. Senators from both parties had nevertheless insisted on being able to see the conclusions of the ethics committee, which consists of both Republicans and Democrats, as part of their screening.
Not released
The normal course of events is for the Senate to confirm those appointments. After an hour-long meeting on Wednesday, Democrat Susan Wild announced that the House committee voted along party lines and that the findings about Gaetz would not be released. There are five representatives from both parties on the committee. “To achieve anything positive, someone has to cross the party line and vote with the other side,” Wild said afterwards. Republican Michael Guest, chairman of the committee, said afterwards only that “no agreement was reached to release the report.” A new attempt will be made on December 5.
Gaetz now needs the support of Republican colleagues in the Senate to drop the report. That could be difficult, as Gaetz has a long history of disparaging Republican senators. Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans in the Senate for many years, was nicknamed McFailure by Gaetz.
Gaetz himself denies all accusations.