EGN NEWS DESK
President-elect Donald Trump’s resolution to choose Matt Gaetz as Attorney General has solid a highlight on the embattled Florida lawmaker’s authorized and moral troubles.
Gaetz, a fierce defender of Trump and critic of the Justice Department, now finds himself poised to steer the very company that investigated him for allegedly intercourse trafficking a minor—an investigation that ended with out prices however will loom massive over his political future. A House committee had been pursuing a separate investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
The nomination has drawn criticism from throughout the political spectrum, with each Democrats and a few Republicans questioning Gaetz’s health to supervise the nation’s prime legislation enforcement company. Gaetz resigned from Congress simply days earlier than the House Ethics Committee was anticipated to vote on whether or not to launch its report on him. It’s not but clear whether or not that report will turn into public, however the allegations probed by the Justice Department (DOJ) and his colleagues within the House are nearly sure to be mentioned when he faces affirmation hearings within the Senate subsequent yr. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing in each investigations.
Here’s what to know in regards to the investigations into Gaetz.
Justice Department investigation
The DOJ investigation into Gaetz started in the course of the first Trump Administration in late 2020 below Attorney General Bill Barr, and anxious allegations that Gaetz had engaged in a sex-trafficking scheme involving a 17-year-old lady.
The probe intensified following revelations about Gaetz’s ties to Joel Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, who pleaded responsible to intercourse trafficking and different prices in 2021 and admitted to paying ladies for intercourse, together with the minor in query, and introducing her to different males. Gaetz’s identify surfaced in the course of the investigation, with prosecutors analyzing whether or not he had paid for intercourse or had any involvement within the trafficking scheme.
Gaetz vehemently denies the allegations, calling them a part of a politically motivated extortion try. His legal professional insisted that no proof related him to the crimes, and in February 2023, the DOJ closed its investigation into him with out submitting prices. Prosecutors reportedly struggled with witness credibility, together with Greenberg’s testimony.
House Ethics Committee investigation
The House Ethics Committee started investigating Gaetz in April 2021, following the studies of his alleged involvement within the sex-trafficking scheme and separate allegations of sexual misconduct, together with sharing inappropriate pictures and movies on the House flooring. The committee initially deferred its investigation whereas the DOJ seemed into the intercourse trafficking allegations. However, as soon as the DOJ closed its investigation in February 2023 with out bringing prices, the Ethics Committee resumed its work.
In the summer season of 2023, the committee supplied an replace on its ongoing investigation, revealing that it was now wanting into further allegations in opposition to Gaetz, together with accusations of illicit drug use, accepting improper presents, and probably obstructing authorities investigations into his conduct. The Ethics Committee additionally explored whether or not Gaetz had been concerned in making a hostile work setting for employees and whether or not his habits violated House guidelines on sexual harassment and private conduct.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who has publicly quarreled with Gaetz, advised CNN in October 2023 that Gaetz confirmed sexually express pictures and movies of underage ladies he slept with to different lawmakers. “We had all seen the movies he was exhibiting on the House flooring…of the ladies that he had slept with,” Mullin mentioned. “He’d brag about how he would crush ED drugs and chase it with an vitality drink so he might go all night time.”
Gaetz has denied wrongdoing. He advised CNN on the time that Mullin’s story is “a lie” and wrote on social media in June that “each investigation into me ends the identical approach: my exoneration.”
The committee’s investigation was anticipated to culminate within the launch of a ultimate report, which might have had severe implications for Gaetz’s future. However, as soon as Gaetz resigned from his congressional seat on Nov. 15 forward of the anticipated launch of the report, the committee’s potential to proceed its investigation was halted. Under House guidelines, as soon as a member resigns, the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction over their case, although it has the discretion to launch its findings regardless.
The timing of Gaetz’s resignation has sparked a contentious debate inside the Republican Party about what to do with the committee’s findings. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday urged the committee to withhold the report, citing issues over setting a precedent for publicly releasing studies on former members. But others within the party have argued that the Ethics Committee’s findings—if launched—might have essential bearing on the Senate’s resolution whether or not to verify Gaetz as Attorney General. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, has referred to as for the report back to be made accessible for overview throughout Gaetz’s affirmation hearings, emphasizing that senators shouldn’t be anticipated to vote with out figuring out the complete scope of the allegations in opposition to him.
A rocky path to affirmation
Despite Trump’s backing, Gaetz faces vital hurdles within the Senate. Republicans maintain a 53-47 majority within the chamber, that means that Gaetz can afford not more than three defections. Key Republican senators have already expressed reservations about his candidacy, together with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins. Murkowski dismissed the Gaetz choose as “not a severe nomination,” whereas Collins mentioned she was “shocked” at Trump’s resolution.
Gaetz’s controversial previous will doubtless dominate the affirmation hearings. His defenders argue that the allegations are politically motivated and that Gaetz has been unfairly focused. But his opponents, each inside the Senate and amongst ethics watchdogs, are anticipated to press for a full examination of the information earlier than any vote on his affirmation.
If confirmed, Gaetz can be tasked with overseeing the nation’s federal legislation enforcement companies. Trump, who has repeatedly solid himself as a sufferer of politically motivated prosecutions, has promised to make use of the Justice Department to focus on these he sees as political adversaries. Gaetz would doubtless embrace his imaginative and prescient, pushing the division to extra aggressively examine these essential of the Trump agenda.
In an announcement saying Gaetz’s nomination, Trump emphasised that Gaetz would root out “systemic corruption” inside the Justice Department and return it to its “true mission of preventing crime and upholding our democracy.” Gaetz himself has echoed Trump’s rhetoric, writing in a since-deleted publish on social media hours earlier than his nomination that there must be “a full-court press in opposition to this WEAPONIZED authorities.”
“If which means abolishing each one of many three letter companies, from the FBI to the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] I’m able to get going!” he continued.
