The rise and fall of Matt Gaetz in eight wild days

Eight tumultuous days after US President-elect Donald Trump picked Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, the firebrand congressman has withdrawn from consideration for the post.

It was a nomination that stunned Washington and sent a shiver through the corridors of the justice department.

Trump settled on Gaetz, 42, during a two-hour flight from Washington to Florida last week, according to reports.

Still basking in the glow of his election victory, the president-elect was flying back to West Palm Beach last Wednesday afternoon after a cordial meeting with President Joe Biden.

That morning Gaetz was not even on the shortlist for the position of America’s top law officer, according to Politico, but Trump had felt underwhelmed by his other options.

On so-called Trump Force One that day were Gaetz himself, Elon Musk, Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and his top legal adviser, Boris Epshteyn, reports the New York Times.

Epshteyn reportedly set about convincing Trump that Gaetz should lead the justice department, which had conducted a sex-trafficking investigation into the lawmaker before dropping the matter.

The allegation that Gaetz had sex with a minor, which he denies, was set to dominate and probably torpedo his nomination process.

Losing his first choice is a setback to Trump and shows the reluctance of the Senate in ushering through a man who has no shortage of enemies in Congress.

The woman Trump has picked instead, another Floridian Pam Bondi, would seem to have more allies and a smoother path ahead.

Gaetz, a lawyer, has been one of Trump’s most strident defenders on Capitol Hill.

He helped prepare the Republican nominee for his televised debate against Biden that effectively knocked the Democrat out of the White House race.

One Trump adviser explained why the president-elect – who has himself been criminally investigated by the justice department, and accuses its prosecutors of witch hunts – took a shine to Gaetz as opposed to other contenders.

“Everyone else looked at AG [attorney general] as if they were applying for a judicial appointment,” the unnamed aide told the Bulwark.

“Gaetz was the only one who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ [expletive] heads.’”

While Republicans on Capitol Hill reacted tepidly to the nomination, career lawyers at the justice department told US media they were stunned and outraged.

Speaking at a conservative conference last year, Gaetz had suggested that the justice department and the agencies it oversees, including the FBI, ought to be abolished, as he argued they were being weaponised against conservatives. The current Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has rejected these claims.

Critics said Trump – who has also named three lawyers that defended him in criminal cases for senior positions at the justice department – was more interested in hiring loyalists than appointees who will uphold the rule of law.

Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton dismissed Gaetz as the “worst cabinet-level appointment in history”.

But the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, said the furore from the Washington establishment showed his father’s unconventional cabinet picks were just the kind of change-makers that American voters had elected him to usher in.

After being nominated last week for attorney general, Gaetz resigned as representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district, a seat he has held since 2017.

His resignation came as the House Ethics Committee was due to decide whether to release a report on its investigation into allegations of misconduct involving drugs, bribes and paying for sex, including with an underage girl.

Gaetz dismissed the claims as a smear. But his resignation triggered a drip feed of leaks in subsequent days as the ethics panel wrangled over what to do about the report.

Few Republicans seemed willing, meanwhile, to circle the wagons round one of the most unpopular lawmakers in the House.

Last year, the combative Gaetz came under fire from his own side of the aisle when he proved instrumental in ousting Republican Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.

Markwayne Mullin, a former House member turned senator, told CNN at the time there was a reason why none of Gaetz’s colleagues would defend him from allegations of sexual misconduct.

“Because we had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor,” said the Oklahoman last October, accusing Gaetz of bragging about his sexual exploits.

Gaetz said Mullin was lying.

As the backlash to his nomination for attorney general began to build this week, Trump made calls to senators in an effort to shore up support.

Trump seemed to be holding firm on Gaetz as he attended a SpaceX rocket launch in Boca Chica, Texas, on Tuesday with Musk.

Asked if he was reconsidering, the president-elect said: “No.”

There was more encouraging news for Gaetz on Wednesday as House Ethics Committee Republicans voted not to release its investigation into him.

It happened as Vice-President-elect JD Vance ferried the attorney general nominee around the Senate in a charm offensive.

Gaetz said it had been “a great day”. But there were hints of turbulence ahead.

When asked how messy the confirmation process could become, incoming Senate majority leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said the hearings could be “on steroids”.

On Thursday morning, Trump was still calling Republican senators to gauge Gaetz’s chances.

But by lunchtime, the nominee had come to the conclusion he didn’t have the votes and he again shocked Washington with the announcement that he was showing himself the door.

“While the momentum was strong,” he posted on X, “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

Trump’s post on Truth Social confirming the volte-face – his first political setback since his election 16 days earlier – was unusually muted for the president-elect.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote, adding that the nominee did not wish to be a “distraction”.

Hours later, Trump nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi instead for the post.

While Trump predicted a “wonderful future” for Gaetz, a question mark hangs over what he will do next.

He was comfortably re-elected this month, but there are already plans for a special election to fill his vacated seat.

Randy Ross, a Florida-based fundraiser for Trump, told the BBC that America had not heard the last of Matt Gaetz.

“My opinion is there’s still a spot in Trump’s administration, Florida or our country’s future leadership for this patriot,” said Mr Ross. “We all look forward to his next steps.”

Meanwhile, Ginger Gaetz, who wed the congressman in 2021, posted an old photo on X following his withdrawal of them both on the steps on Capitol Hill.

“The end of an era,” she commented.