AG picks Matt Gaetz back to Capitol Hill to join senators with VP-elect JD Vance

Attorney General nominated Matt Gaetz Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to his former stomping grounds on Wednesday to chat with Republican senators as a House panel prepared to debate whether to investigate the former Republican congressman from Florida’s alleged drug abuse allegations. Regarding whether a potentially explosive report should be issued or not. and sexual misconduct,

Gaetz, 42, smiled at photographers as he entered the Capitol building with Vance, 40, ahead of planned meetings with GOP senators, some of whom expressed skepticism about the Sunshine Stater’s confirmation as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Have done.

Sources told The Post that early conversations with Gaetz about his nomination have been “positive,” with President-elect Donald Trump personally lobbying senators to confirm one of his most controversial Cabinet selections. .

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, one of them will soon be the 47th president’s closest confidant during the transitionThey have also come out in support of Gaetz and called him “hammer of justiceand “Judge Dredd is what America needs to clean up a corrupt system.”

“I had a very good meeting with Matt Gaetz, President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Posted on Wednesday,

“I am committed to allowing this process to proceed consistent with past practices and fundamental fairness. This process will not be rubber stamped nor will it be mob driven.

“I fear that the process around the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they were true. I have seen this film before also.

“I would urge all of my Senate colleagues, especially Republicans, not to join the lynch mob and give the process a chance to move forward. After years of investigation by the Justice Department, no charges were filed against Matt Gaetz. This is something we all need to remember,’ Graham added.

“I would also urge my colleagues to go back to the time-tested process, obtain relevant information, and give the nominee a chance to make his or her case as to why he or she should be confirmed. This standard – which I have long adhered to – has served the Senate and the country well.

Nevertheless, some are still expressing objection – as well as interest in reviewing the findings of a two-year Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz’s alleged payments for sexual favors.

Centrist senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), as well as soon-to-be Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), have called for full transparency.

“I’m saying to those who want to get involved, not just Gaetz, but any Cabinet person, if you give us the information we want it will happen much faster,” Grassley said Tuesday. “If they want to quickly consider this nomination, we need to be as transparent as possible.”

“I don’t really know what President Trump’s thoughts are on this,” Collins told reporters. “The constitutional role of the Senate must be respected. We need decent court nominees. We need background checks, Senate investigations, and public hearings, just as we have always done with Cabinet nominees.

An Iowa spokeswoman told The Post on Wednesday that Grassley had already spoken to Gaetz and said the two had “a substantive discussion.”

“Grassley encouraged Gaetz to speak along with other members of the Judiciary Committee on both sides of the podium,” the spokesperson said.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), another Judiciary Committee member, told the Wall Street Journal That he “definitely” wanted a full background investigation of all nominees and suggested that the panel subpoena witnesses in the Ethics Committee investigation.

“To do our job, we need to have access to all the information, but we also need to protect the president from any surprises that could damage his administration,” he told the outlet.

The GOP Senate majority would be 53-47, meaning the conference could only lose a maximum of three votes to confirm Gaetz.

During this time, ABC News Reports late Tuesday said Gaetz paid more than $10,000 via Venmo to two women who testified to House lawmakers that the congressman had sent them money in exchange for sex.

A woman also alleged that she saw the Florida poll having sex with a 17 year old girl at a party in July 2017 during his first term in Congress, according to Joel LePard, an Orlando-based attorney for both women.

Gaetz has vehemently denied all allegations, and the Justice Department decided not to charge him after a multi-year investigation into allegations of sex-trafficking of a minor.

The top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, Representative Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, has advocated for the Gaetz report to be shown to senators as well as the public, while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La) has argued that disclosing details of an investigation is being done. Former MLA will “open Pandora’s box.”

He said on “Fox News,” “There’s a very important reason why we’ve always had the traditions and rules in place – almost always followed them – and that’s that we don’t issue investigations and ethics reports on people who who are not members of Congress.” sunday.”

In December 1987, House lawmakers issued an incomplete report regarding Representative Bill Bonner (D-Tenn.), who had resigned two months earlier to run for Nashville mayor over his relationship with a government contractor .

Gaetz, a longtime legislator, worked for two years at a law firm in the Florida Panhandle, advocating for government transparency before serving terms in the state legislature and the U.S. Congress.

He resigned from the 118th Congress on November 13, hours after Trump nominated him to be the next Attorney General.