Trump’s attorney general pick hampered by accusations

The man picked to be America’s next top law enforcement officer, Matt Gaetz, is at the centre of a number of allegations which could prevent him from getting the job. Here’s all you need to know about them.

The Florida lawmaker is the subject of a long-running investigation by a congressional ethics panel into a number of claims involving drugs, bribes and sex.

A woman who attended a 2017 party with him has testified to the House committee that she saw the then-congressman having sex with a minor, her lawyer has said.

The same lawyer alleged on Monday that two women were paid by Gaetz to have sex with him.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation into him a “smear campaign”.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) – which Gaetz would lead in the post – also investigated the claim involving the minor but ultimately did not file any criminal charges against him.

When he learned of his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump, he resigned from Congress, putting him out of reach of the investigation by the ethics panel.

Pressure is building for it to publish its findings and the level of cross-party concern risks derailing his nomination, which requires Senate approval.

Gaetz, 42, represented Florida’s first congressional district in the US House of Representatives.

He came to power in the same election in 2016 that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.

A fierce Trump defender, he has long upset Democrats but also many Republicans with his bombastic public conduct and alleged hard-partying lifestyle.

On and off since 2021, the secretive House Ethics Committee has investigated Gaetz over various allegations, including the claim that he had sex with an underage girl, used illicit drugs, accepted bribes, misused campaign funds and shared inappropriate images on the House floor.

The Floridian has repeatedly and vehemently denied wrongdoing, casting the probe as an attempt to smear his name by powerful enemies he has made in politics.

He has also raised in his defence the fact that the DoJ ended a separate three-year, federal sex-trafficking investigation last year by deciding not to bring charges against him.

“Lies were Weaponized to try to destroy me,” Gaetz posted on X on Friday.

“These lies resulted in prosecution, conviction, and prison. For the liars, not me.”

Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time friend, was the lone person charged in the DoJ’s sex trafficking investigation. He cooperated with investigators and reportedly told prosecutors information about multiple others, including Gaetz.

Greenberg is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence after agreeing to plead guilty to multiple federal charges, including under-age sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft, producing a fake ID card, and conspiring to defraud the US government.

As part of his cooperation with federal prosecutors, Greenberg admitted he had repeatedly paid young women to attend parties with him and his friends, where they used drugs and had sex.

At least one of the girls he paid for sex was 17 years old at the time – and Greenberg alleged that Gaetz had also had sex with her – a claim federal authorities investigated but were unable to verify.

No charges were filed against Gaetz, who has fiercely denied these allegations, and the federal investigation was later closed.

The congressional probe continued and it was reportedly due to release its findings but that was halted when Trump announced he wanted Gaetz to lead the DoJ.

Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general was followed hours later with his resignation from the House, which halted the release of the investigation’s findings.

His departure from Congress means he is no longer under congressional jurisdiction.

Joel Leppard, who represents the then-minor with whom Gaetz is accused of having sex, has called for the report’s release. He said the then-minor testified to the committee that she had sex with Gaetz while “she was a high school student, and there were witnesses”.

He said one of his other clients said she had witnessed Gaetz having sex with the then-17-year-old.

CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, has learned that the committee has heard from at least four women who say they were paid to attend parties with drugs and sex where Gaetz was allegedly present.

Mr Leppard told CBS on Monday that the panel had seen evidence of transactions on the Venmo mobile app between Gaetz and the women, which they alleged was used to pay for sex.

Gaetz has denied having sex with a minor or paying women for sex.

Sitting House Speaker Mike Johnson argued against the report’s release in a Sunday appearance on Fox News, saying it could “open Pandora’s box” if the panel started issuing reports about those who are not members of the body.

“We don’t issue investigations and ethics reports on people who are not members of Congress,” he said. “I think this would be a breach of protocol that could be dangerous for us going forward in the future.”

He also told reporters that he would “strongly request” the report isn’t made public because the rules outline that “a former member is beyond the jurisdiction of the ethics committee”.

Members of the committee are expected to meet this Wednesday and may hold a vote then on releasing the report, according to US media. A spokesperson declined to comment when reached by the BBC.

Gaetz will need 50 votes in the Senate when his nomination comes to a vote after Trump takes office on 20 January.

If four Senate Republicans vote against his nomination and all the Democratic and independent senators do the same, then his nomination will fail.

A name can also be withdrawn from consideration if leadership believe it doesn’t have sufficent support.

The confirmation hearing for Gaetz would require some of these salacious allegations being considered in public.

Trump is calling Republicans directly to press them to back Gaetz, Axios reports.

A spokesman for the Trump transition said that Trump still stood behind his pick.

“Matt Gaetz will be the next Attorney General,” he said. “These are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration.”