Gaetz bows out of cabinet stakes while Hegseth nomination founders

WASHINGTON – Besieged by allegations of misconduct that included having sex with an underage woman, Matt Gaetz became the first Trump administration nominee to fail to survive public scrutiny.

On Thursday, Gaetz announced in a post on X that he was withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next U.S. attorney general.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz  wrote. “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.”

His resignation came as debate intensified over a House ethics investigation into Gaetz that included allegations the former Florida lawmaker had misused campaign funds, accepted improper gifts and paid for sex with a 17-year-old at a drug-fueled party while he was serving in Congress.

As a member of the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Michele Fischbach of Minnesota’s 7th District voted Wednesday with the panel’s other Republicans to block the release of a report on its investigation of  Gaetz.

The “no” votes effectively deadlocked the committee, which is divided evenly between Republican and Democratic members.

Fischbach declined to say why she blocked release of the findings of the investigation, which included the testimony of the formerly underaged woman and her friend who claimed she witnessed Gaetz having sex with the younger woman at a party.

CNN reported Thursday that the same underaged woman told the ethics panel that she had several encounters with Gaetz, who has made payments to this woman and other women through PayPal and Venmo accounts.   

“Unfortunately, the Congresswoman is bound by the committee’s Confidentiality Rule and has no comment on matters that are or could come before the committee,” Fischbach spokeswoman Lauren Weber said in an emailed statement.

Defenders of the committee’s decision to keep the results of its investigation under wraps had said the Senate Judiciary Committee could seek the testimony of the same witnesses during its hearing on Gaetz’s nomination.

But Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not agree.

“The House Ethics Committee should send their report on Matt Gaetz to the Senate,” she said in a post on X. “Are they trying to force us to use taxpayer dollars to recreate the exact same report by interviewing dozens of witnesses and deploying federal investigators? Government efficiency??”

Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his nomination has spared him from what was shaping up to be a brutal Senate confirmation process and from House Democratic attempts to force the release of the Ethics Committee report.

But that report would still be in contention if Gaetz rescinds his resignation or wins a special election to keep his congressional seat. Gaetz remains congressman-elect for his Florida district in the next Congress and it is unclear how that issue will be resolved.

Trump lauded Gaetz’s decision in a social media post.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” Trump wrote. “He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

A damaging police report 

Storm clouds also grew this week over another controversial Trump nominee, Pete Hegseth, a Minnesota native who was tapped as secretary of defense.

The Monterey, California, city attorney this week released a redacted version of a police report filed in 2017 of an incident at a Hyatt hotel in that city during a convention of the California Federation of Republican women.

According to the police report, a woman identified as Jane Doe said she ended up in Hegseth’s hotel room and was sexually assaulted under circumstances she could not fully remember.

The investigation was touched off by a nurse at a Kaiser Permanente facility who treated Jane Doe after the assault and contacted the police.  

Jane Doe told police that Hegseth took her phone and blocked access to the door when she tried to leave. She also said she may have been drugged while drinking with Hegseth and others at the hotel bar.

“Jane Doe remembers saying ‘no’ a lot,” the report said.

Jane Doe also said she had confronted Hegseth after witnessing him acting “inappropriately” with other women at the conference. Hegseth later paid her an undisclosed sum as part of a non-disclosure agreement.

Meanwhile, Hegseth told police the encounter with Jane Doe was consensual and that he repeatedly made sure the woman was “comfortable with what was going on between the two of them.”

In the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to meet with senators who will consider his nomination, Hegseth told reporters “the matter was fully investigated and I was fully cleared and that’s where I’m going to leave it.”

But Hegseth was not cleared by the police. The Monterey Police Department said it had forwarded its 22-page report to the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office. It’s unclear why the district attorney did not choose to prosecute. 

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran, is also facing criticism for lacking experience running a large organization, opposing women in combat roles and promising to roll back “woke” policies in the Pentagon and purge the military of senior  officers.  

Lotsa competition for Ken Martin 

DFL Chairman Ken Martin has lots of competition in his bid to head the Democratic National Committee, whose current chairman, Jaime Harrison, said he would not seek re-election.

When Martin announced earlier this week that he was interested in the job (he already serves as a senior DNC official) only former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was in the race.

But now James Zogby, head of the Arab American Institute and longtime DNC member, has joined the race and others are mulling a run.

Those include political strategist Chuck Rocha, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and Rahm Emanuel, the current U.S. ambassador to Japan, former mayor of Chicago and former White House chief of staff.

The timeline for the election is not yet determined but may be when the DNC Rules & Bylaws committee meets Dec. 12 and probably will be held in early spring.  

In case you missed it:

• I profiled Rep.-elect Kelly Morrison of Minnesota’s 3^rd Congressional District. The physician and former state senator will be taking over the seat held by Rep. Dean Phillips, who is resigning after his current term ends.

• Earlier this week, we took a look at Pete Hegseth and the scrutiny the Forest Lake Area High School graduate has come under since being nominated by Donald Trump to become secretary of defense.

• Peter Callaghan wrote about ways the Minnesota House of Representatives could jointly operate now that the body is split evenly, 67-67, between Republicans and DFLers.

Your questions and comments

Quite a few comments came in from readers this week about President-elect Donald Trump’s choices for his cabinet.

One reader criticized the choice of World Wrestling Federation co-founder Linda McMahon.

“McMahon got this as a consolation prize and for her campaign contributions,” the reader said. “She was a certified teacher, but never worked as one. It is not clear whether her children attended public schools or whether she ever served as a volunteer, or just was a critic.”

Another reader defended Gov. Tim Walz in his role as a vice presidential candidate,  even though he was part of a losing ticket.

“He did all he could do to boost the ticket,” the reader said of Walz. “Half of the country bought into nihilism, racism, idiotic notions of patriotism, and politics as sport. Walz was a coach, but tried to be a unifier.”

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.

Ana Radelat

Ana Radelat is MinnPost’s Washington, D.C. correspondent. You can reach her at aradelat@minnpost.com or follow her on Twitter at @radelat.

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