Just before 12:30 pm eastern time, Matt Gaetz tweeted this out:
The calculation you might think Gaetz made — after spending Wednesday on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican Senators — is that it was going to be very tough to convince 50 of them to vote for his nomination as Attorney General.
Which was, undoubtedly, part of all of this.
But, here’s the real calculation I think Gaetz made: The chances of some (or all) of the House Ethics Committee report into allegations he had sex with a minor and used illegal drugs — among other things — being released was pretty damn high if he continued to push to be confirmed.
And, looking at his future political ambitions, Gaetz concluded that he couldn’t let that happen.
Remember that Gaetz is widely rumored to be eyeing the open Florida governor’s race in 2026. And would likely start said race as the GOP primary favorite, which, given Florida’s move to the right in the last two elections, would make him the favorite to be the state’s next governor too.
And while these allegations wouldn’t totally eliminate Gaetz’s chances of winning — I mean, Donald Trump is the president-elect! — they would have put a major dent in his gubernatorial candidacy.
So, Gaetz got out — shortly, I will note, after CNN reported this:
The woman who says she had sex when she was a minor with then-Rep. Matt Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee she had two sexual encounters with him at one party in 2017, sources familiar with her testimony tell CNN.
The woman, who was 17 years old at the time, testified that the second sexual encounter, which has not previously been reported, included another adult woman. She also testified to both sexual encounters in a civil deposition as part of a related lawsuit, sources said.
After being asked for comment for this story, Gaetz announced he was backing out as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee.
Ahem.
What Gaetz is counting on is that now that he is no longer a member of Congress AND no longer a nominee for a top job in the Trump administration, the fervor to find out the details of the House Ethics Committee report or force it to be publicly released will disappear (or dissipate considerably).
Which means that his political future remains viable. THAT is what Gaetz is solely focused on. And it’s why he ended his bid to be AG.
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