Matt Gaetz’s wife Ginger sent him heartfelt messages of support after he stunningly withdrew his name as Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee.
“Nobody loves America more than you,” she declared after Gaetz announced he was removing himself from consideration and admitted the charges against him were a “distraction” for the newly elected president.
“The end of an era,” his wife posted alongside an image of them walking hand in hand on the steps of Capitol Hill.
Gaetz’s surprise decision followed a new accusation that the embattled Republican had a threesome involving a minor.
The announcement came a day after the House of Representatives Ethics Committee stalled on releasing a report on allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use by Gaetz.
On Wednesday, Gaetz had met with Republican senators whose support he had needed to be confirmed as attorney general.
“I had excellent meetings with senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support from so many. While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation unfairly became a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” he wrote on X.
Donald Trump said in a Truth Social statement that he respected Gaetz’s decision and admitted that the accusations had become a distraction.
Matt Gaetz’s wife Ginger gave him heartfelt messages of support after he stunningly withdrew his name from Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee
“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted scuffle in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from serving as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ needs to be in place and ready on Day 1,” he noted.
Many senators had privately expressed concerns about whether he could be confirmed because of the ethics investigation into allegations of drug use, sex parties and sex with a minor.
Gaetz has already resigned from the House of Representatives before this term, but was re-elected to Congress, which will be sworn in on January 3. He will return as a lawmaker.
“No one loves America more than you,” she responded to his post, announcing that he was removing himself from consideration and admitting that the accusations against him were a “distraction” for the newly elected president
CNN said they informed Gaetz at 11:30 a.m. that they had testimony a woman had given to the House Ethics Committee that she had two sexual encounters with Gaetz at one party in 2017.
The woman, who was 17 years old at the time, testified that the second sexual encounter, which has not previously been reported, involved another adult woman.
CNN said they told Gaetz the story would go live at 12:30 PM ET.
He posted on social media at 12:24 p.m. that he was withdrawing his nomination.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the sexual encounters.
In her testimony before the ethics committee, the adult woman denied taking part in the alleged second encounter. CNN reports this.
Gaetz lasted just nine days as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.
Trump said he appreciated Gaetz and expected great things from him.
“I greatly appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts in obtaining approval to become Attorney General. He did very well, but at the same time he did not want to be a distraction for the government, for which he has great respect. Matt has a bright future and I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do!” the president-elect wrote on Truth Social.
Trump had called on senators to rally support for his candidate. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, a senator, had spent the past two days touring Gaetz around the Senate to work on his nomination.
Gaetz’s wife Ginger Luckey responded to her husband’s announcement with “No one loves America more than you” and an emoji of hands making a heart shape.
Gaetz pleaded with Trump for being named attorney general of Trump Force One as Trump headed to Washington DC to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House.
A longtime Trump loyalist, the president-elect said in nominating him that Gaetz “will end the armed government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans’ severely shattered faith and trust in the Department of Justice will recover.”
Ginger was by Gaetz’s side when the nasty accusations were made against him
Matt Gaetz withdrew as Donald Trump’s attorney general candidate
Donald Trump said he respected Matt Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his nomination
The Justice Department had closed its investigation into Gaetz last year after prosecutors recommended no criminal charges be filed against him.
However, the House Ethics Committee was completing its investigation and preparing to release its report.
Members of the bipartisan panel had been investigating allegations that Trump’s Attorney General Gaetz had sex with a minor and used illegal drugs while he was a federal employee.
Gaetz’s resignation from the 118th Congress meant he was no longer subject to the ethics panel. The panel voted Wednesday not to release the report on Gaetz.
Releasing it would break with the precedent set by the panel no longer having jurisdiction over Gaetz.
It lost that jurisdiction when he resigned from Congress one day after being named the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Still, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have publicly called for the report to be released anyway.
These calls are fueled by recent claims from Orlando-based attorney Joel Leppard, who represents two women who claim to have information about Gaetz’s allegedly grim past.
Gaetz allegedly partied, used drugs and paid women for sex repeatedly between 2017 and 2019 while serving in the House of Representatives, Leppard alleges.
The bombing allegations were at the center of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into the ex-lawmaker, as the women reportedly testified before the panel.
According to Leppard, the Republican attended as many as ten “sex parties” where illegal drugs and “group sex situations” were present.
Both women represented by Leppard allege Gaetz paid them for sex through Venmo, the attorney alleges.
Gaetz paid more than $10,000 dollars to two women on Venmo between 2017 and 2019, ABC News reports.
“She testified [that] In July 2017, during a house party, she walked to the pool, looked to her right and saw Representative Gaetz having sex with her girlfriend, who was 17,” Leppard said Monday.
One of the witnesses claims she saw her friends having sex with Gaetz at a party in July 2017 at a gaming table thought to be an air hockey table.
The unnamed witness also says her friend was 17 years old at the time.
Matt Gaetz (left) and JD Vance (right) in the Senate for meetings on Wednesday
Matt Gaetz (C) and wife Ginger Luckey Gaetz talk with another guest at the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago on November 14, 2024 in Palm Beach
Gaetz was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives in January 2017, so all of the allegations against him come during his tenure as a federal employee.
He claimed he had done nothing wrong and that the allegations against him amounted to a “false slander.”
Gaetz also said he had never engaged in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 in a letter posted to his social media in September.
“The answer to this question is an unequivocal NO,” he wrote. “The lawful, consensual sexual activity of adults is not the business of Congress.”
Gaetz has also said that the Ethics Commission’s actions appear to have unfairly targeted him, and he announced that he would no longer comply with their investigation.