Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is seen outside a meeting of the House Republican Conference in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The Senate Judiciary Committee asked the FBI on Wednesday for its “complete evidentiary file” of the closed investigation into the alleged sex trafficking of an underage girl by Matt Gaetz, whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped as the next U.S. attorney general.
The request by the committee’s Democratic majority in a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray says “the grave public allegations against Mr. Gaetz speak directly to his fitness to serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the federal government.”
The letter, obtained by NBC News, noted that Gaetz’s former associate Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty in 2021 “to the sex trafficking charge for which Mr. Gaetz was also investigated.”
“The Senate has a constitutional duty to provide advice and consent on presidential nominees, and it is crucial that we review all the information necessary to fulfill this duty as we consider Mr. Gaetz’s nomination,” the letter says.
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
Gaetz, 42, is a Trump loyalist known for his history of incendiary remarks and attention-grabbing actions in Congress.
He resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented a Florida district, after Trump announced that he would nominate him to lead the Department of Justice.
The DOJ ended its probe of Gaetz last year without filing charges.
But a sprawling probe into alleged sexual misconduct and other behavior by Gaetz was being conducted by the House Ethics Committee until Gaetz resigned, removing him from the panel’s jurisdiction.
The committee is scheduled to meet behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss whether to publicly release a report on its investigation, according to NBC.
Gaetz’s selection has stoked outrage and panic from Trump’s critics and has reportedly bred concerns even among some of his Senate allies, whose support will be needed to confirm his nomination.
Trump has urged GOP senators to allow him to bypass the Senate confirmation process with recess appointments.
But Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., predicted Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that, after a “big discussion” with her colleagues the push to bypass the Senate through recess appointments will lose steam.
“I think the issue of recess appointments will probably go away, and it won’t be an integral part of how the president’s going to get his Cabinet through.”
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