Matt Gaetz meets privately with senators for support as House Ethics declines action on its report
Nov 20, 2024, 2:14 PM | Updated: 2:26 pm
Matt Gaetz talks before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has launched an effort to personally secure his embattled nomination, meeting behind closed doors Wednesday with Republican senators who have heard questions about the sexual misconduct and other allegations against him.
As Gaetz and senators holed up near the Senate, the House Ethics Committee also met privately about the findings of a long-running investigation of their former colleague. The Ethics Committee did not reach an agreement over releasing the report, GOP chairman Michael Guest said after the two-hour meeting.
At least one Republican senator decried the scrutiny as a “lynch mob” forming against Gaetz, who if confirmed would become the nation’s top law enforcement official.
“I’m not going to legitimize the process to destroy the man because people don’t like his politics,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., as he left the private senators’ meeting .
“He deserves a chance to make his argument why he should be attorney general,” Graham said. “No rubber stamp, no lynch mob.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who is supportive of Gaetz’s nomination, emerged saying, “If you have concerns, that’s fine. But don’t make up your mind yet. Let the guy testify first.”
As the senators met in the out-of-the-way Strom Thurmond Room, Hawley said Gaetz was in a “cheerful” mood. The former Florida congressman met with different senators over the course of about four hours.
It’s the start of a personal push by Gaetz, who has long denied the mounting allegationsagainst him, to shore up the Senate support needed to be confirmed as the nation’s attorney general. He brings with him wide-ranging proposals to rid the Department of Justice of those perceived by Trump to have “weaponized” their work against the president-elect, his allies and conservatives in general.
Trump himself told senators that he hoped “to get Matt across the finish line,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.C, who was with the president-elect and others for a SpaceX rocket launch Wednesday with billionaire Elon Musk in Texas.
Read the full story at apnews.com.
