Washington— Former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz met with senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as he sought to drum up support for his attorney general nomination amid calls to the House Ethics Committee. release the report in the allegation that he was sexually involved and used illegal drugs.
Accompanied by Vice President-elect JD Vance, senator from Ohio, Gaetz sat down with Republican senators, whose votes will be important to confirm him for the position of the nation’s top law enforcement officer next year. The GOP is set to control the Senate in the next Congress and hold 53 seats, but Gaetz needs the support of a majority of the chamber to get confirmation.
President-elect Donald Trump declare Gaetz was the pick for attorney general last week, after the Florida Republican resigned from Congress. But Gaetz’s selection and resignation came two days before the House Ethics Committee ready to meet and voted whether to make a public report detailing the findings of a long-running investigation into Gaetz’s allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
Republicans have denied wrongdoing and called the Ethics investigation a “smear.” He has blamed the investigation on former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Gaetz helped drive it off last year. Alex Pfeiffer, spokesman for Trump’s transition, said in a statement on Friday that “Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General. He is the right person for the job and will stop the weaponization of our justice system. These allegations are intended to derail the second Trump administration.”
Trump told reporters Tuesday that he is not reconsidering his choice for attorney general.
Gaetz and Vance have so far met with Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike Lee of Utah, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Kennedy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas. Six sit on the Judiciary Committee, which will hold Gaetz confirmation hearings early next year.
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Hawley told CBS News that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the need to request a confirmation hearing and to ensure that Gaetz gets a chance “to respond publicly, under oath.” Hawley pointed out that he thinks Gaetz has spoken to every member of the Judiciary Committee and many other senators who are not on the committee. He said he expects Gaetz to meet with all 53 incoming Republicans within a few weeks.
“President Trump is very committed to continuing this. And I know there is some speculation among my colleagues that maybe this will not be done in the confirmation hearing, but he wants to, and I really have the right to do that. , “he said. “Gaetz wants an opportunity to testify, to respond to critics, to answer questions, to talk about his vision for the department.”
Hawley will likely vote for all of Trump’s nominees, he said, and believes there is “no shortage of information” about Gaetz available to senators.
At least one Republican senator, Susan Collins of Maine, said she had not been asked to meet with Gaetz. Collins is one of the most moderate members of the conference, and his vote could be critical to Gaetz’s confirmation. He previously said he was “surprised” by his selection.
After the meeting with Gaetz, Graham said that he is inclined to postpone the selection of the president’s Cabinet “unless the evidence shows disqualification,” the process for Trump’s selection “will not be a rubber stamp, or it will be driven by a lynch mob.”
“I’m afraid that the process surrounding Gaetz’s nomination has become an angry crowd, and unverified allegations are treated as if they were true. I’ve seen this movie before,” he said, in an apparent reference to the confirmation process of Chief Justice Brett Kavanaugh. in 2018. “I will urge all my Senate colleagues, especially the Republicans, not to join the lynch mob and give the process a chance to move forward.”
Lee, speaking to reporters after his meeting with Gaetz, said Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation hearing should serve as a “warning” amid allegations against the Florida Republican.
“There are a lot of allegations that have been thrown at Brett Kavanaugh that in many cases cannot be confirmed,” Lee said. “That’s why I think that this is a warning voice that people need to hear. Just because the accusations are made, and just because a lot of people talk about them – and sometimes in a political spirit to embrace them. the truth – does not mean that they are, in fact, true .”
Kavanaugh was accused of committing sexual crimes decades earlier and denied the allegations. The Judiciary Committee held a extraordinary hearing set which includes testimony from Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who claims she assaulted him during a party during high school in the 1980s. Classmates who were at the party, however, could not support Ford’s allegations. Kavanaugh is there confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 50-48, the narrowest margin in more than a century.
Gaetz has been under investigation for years by the House Ethics Committee and the Justice Department, which is looking into allegations of sex trafficking and obstruction. prosecutor refused to charge Gaetz last year.
Ethics Committee said in June who has spoken with more than a dozen witnesses, issued 25 subpoenas and reviewed thousands of pages of documents as part of the investigation. It said in a rare statement that “certain allegations” should continue to be reviewed, including allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, receiving inappropriate gifts, granting “privileges and favors” and obstructing government investigations into his conduct.
Multiple sources told CBS news at the time that four women testified to the Ethics panel that they had been paid for the party, which Gaetz attended, including sex and drugs. A lawyer for two women who spoke with the panel told CBS News on Friday who testified that Gaetz paid directly and repeatedly for sex, and said the Venmo transaction to meet was taken by the panel.
The lawyer, Joel Leppard, also said the woman told House investigators that Gaetz asked about “party favors” and “vitamins” at an upcoming party via text message, which she said was coded for drugs. One of Leppard’s clients testified before the Ethics Committee He witnessed Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old against the game table during a July 2017 party, a month after he was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives.
and Shawna Mizelle contributed to this report.
