President-elect Trump is dead serious about making him attorney general. Speaker Mike Johnson is pledging to bury a House Ethics Committee report into his alleged personal misconduct. Still, expect this to be a very uncomfortable week for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Politico reports. There is new pressure to publicize details from investigations centering on allegations of underage sex and drug use by the Florida Republican as a potentially tawdry confirmation battle takes shape. Joel Leppard, who represents two women who testified to both federal and House Ethics investigators about Gaetz’s alleged misdeeds, is doing TV interviews Monday. He says his clients attended more than five and as many as 10 “sex parties” with Gaetz between the summer of 2017 and the end of 2018, during his first term in the House. They reported “group sex situations” and illegal drugs were present. One client witnessed Gaetz “having sex with her friend,” who was underage at the time, against a game table.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. The federal investigation that Leppard’s clients participated in ended without charges against Gaetz. Leppard and many on Capitol Hill believe that a lack of criminal indictment is a much lower bar than a prospective attorney general should be meeting. Leppard said his media blitz is aimed at protecting his clients, who have not ruled out coming forward. "Ultimately, I hope it puts a lot of pressure on the panel to release the report,” he said. “My clients have already been through this several times and they really, really do not want to testify again, especially not on the floor of the Senate.” A Gaetz spokesperson said, “Merrick Garland’s DOJ cleared Matt Gaetz and didn’t charge him. Are you alleging Garland is part of a cover up?” Democrats charged with vetting Trump’s nominees are exploring how to gather more information on the sexual misconduct allegations against both Gaetz and Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Defense secretary who is alleged to have paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. On the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrats have discussed requesting the FBI file on Gaetz, which could include records of any interviews conducted as part of the now-closed investigation. They’re likely to do so before the end of the year, knowing Trump could order those materials to be withheld once he assumes office.
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