Matt Gaetz blames 'Washington scuffle' as he steps down amid sexual misconduct allegations

Gaetz was announced as Trump's choice for attorney general last week. (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has announced he is withdrawing his name from consideration for the position, amid controversy over sexual misconduct allegations against him.

In a statement shared on social media on Thursday, Gaetz said that he felt speculation about whether he would pass the Senate confirmation process was becoming a "distraction" for the incoming Trump administration.

"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," he wrote on X.

"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. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."

Last week, Trump said he was selecting Gaetz to serve as attorney general, in a move that alarmed many Senate Republicans.

Gaetz was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department and was probed by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct.

He resigned from Congress following Trump’s announcement, ending the ethics probe into allegations against him of child sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and drug use.

Gaetz has denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, the House Ethics Committee announced that it had decided not to release its final report on Gaetz, amid calls from Democrats for its findings to be made public.

Committee Chair Michael Guest said “there was no agreement by the committee to release the report.”

On Monday, a lawyer representing two women involved in the case said the pair testified to the committee that they were paid for sex by Gaetz.

Lawyer Joel Leppard told ABC News that one of his clients also testified that she saw Gaetz having sex with an underage girl at a party in Florida.

"She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17," Leppard said.

Leppard said that his client said that she did not believe Gaetz knew that her friend was underage at the time.

Trump transition spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer described the allegations as “baseless” and “intended to derail the second Trump administration.”

Since 2021, Gaetz had remained 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 federal sex trafficking investigation against Gaetz focused on allegations that he and onetime political ally Joel Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex. Greenberg was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in prison.