# Matt Gaetz withdraws from AG nomination **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 21, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567 "2024-11-21T17:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Ash\_trav511](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@Ash\_trav511](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ash_trav511)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2024, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/162 "2024-12-12T12:36:39Z")
I’m relieved finally he is not in the cabinet ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/163 "2024-12-18T16:13:19Z")
I just saw the headline that the misconduct report is going to be released after all. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/164 "2024-12-18T16:19:05Z")
Great news! It will be released by year’s end. > **[In reversal, key House panel votes to release Matt Gaetz ethics report | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/18/politics/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-committee/index.html)** > > The House Ethics Committee secretly voted earlier this month to release its report into the conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz before the end of this Congress, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/165 "2024-12-18T16:52:57Z")
There must be some people on that committee that really hate Gaetz. Good. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/166 "2024-12-18T16:54:38Z")
The vote was secret but it only needed one Republican. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/167 "2024-12-18T16:55:11Z")
And everyone will want to know which one … ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/168 "2024-12-18T17:09:43Z")
I believe it was the _Murder On The Orient Express_ outcome: They all voted yes! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/169 "2024-12-18T17:12:51Z")
Given that he’s already quit the House and moving to TV, they really have nothing to fear from him. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/170 "2024-12-18T19:16:47Z")
Especially since the news channel he is moving to is one of the least watched in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/171 "2024-12-18T19:26:53Z")
[![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:t6ubj2wlhc34awzcymh3qpur/bafkreic3xwyu5xvi5ud5leqy6jvndt4hvkkgxpvwthxbk7x3woimdlogle@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:t6ubj2wlhc34awzcymh3qpur/bafkreic3xwyu5xvi5ud5leqy6jvndt4hvkkgxpvwthxbk7x3woimdlogle@jpeg) “I often sent funds to women I dated”? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/172 "2024-12-18T23:10:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Given that he’s already quit the House and moving to TV, they really have nothing to fear from him. I believe it’s widely assumed that the TV gig is just a time-filler until he can run for Florida Governor. And possibly a lot of Congressional Republicans do not want to see him attain a launching-pad for a future run at the Presidency. Many of them probably don’t actually enjoy kowtowing to Trump; and they have even less desire to be expected to do so to Gaetz, who is generally despised. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2024, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/173 "2024-12-18T23:22:13Z")
Claiming that he’s a different man than he was in his 30’s is a bold move for a man whose 30’s were 3 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/174 "2024-12-19T00:06:21Z")
Exactly what was he working so hard at in his youth? He certainly isn’t now, just voting NO on everything put to a vote. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/175 "2024-12-19T00:09:35Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Exactly what was he working so hard at in his youth? What, you think all that cocaine was just gonna snort itself? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/176 "2024-12-19T16:40:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “I often sent funds to women I dated”? Oh boy. Based on that preliminary flailing from his part, you know that report is going to be **very bad**. It’s like when you’re watching a movie or TV show, and someone is suspiciously trying to find excuses for people not to go into a room, and when they declare they are going to go in there anyway, the character starts blabbing non-stop things like, “It’s not what you think, I can explain, I know it looks bad, but…” It’s always going to be something shocking. We’re at that “foreshadowing” part of the story. 😆 ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/177 "2024-12-19T18:43:08Z")
You know who also sends funds to women they date? Oddly enough, most of them are named John. Are we going to find that one of Matt’s nicknames is John? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/178 "2024-12-19T19:29:33Z")
The payments have been known about for some time. Remember that one of Gaetz’s associates, Joel Greenberg, p[led guilty to sex trafficking of a minor and is doing 11 years](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/doj-charge-gaetz-sex-trafficking-probe-lawyer-minor/story?id=97225306). Charges were never filed against Gaetz, probably because connecting the dots between money and sex was more difficult. But the payments were known about back then, and then the records were released by [ABC last month](https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/US/gaetz-10k-venmo-payments-2-women-testified-house/story%3fid=116019367). He’s basically got no choice but to acknowledge them and try to dance around the obvious. “Yes I paid young women. Yes I had sex with those women. But the money wasn’t for the sex, and you can’t prove that they weren’t 18”. It’s a stellar position for him to be in but it’s probably accurate (that nobody can prove it, not that he didn’t do it. Because he almost certainly did) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/179 "2024-12-19T19:38:24Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > It’s a stellar position for him to be in but it’s probably accurate (that nobody can prove it, not that he didn’t do it. Because he almost certainly did) I’m not so sure about that, otherwise he wouldn’t be so freaked out about this report. There’s definitely something really bad in there and he clearly knows it. Though you may be right that it’s something other than those payments. In that case it would seem odd that it’s the thing he seems to be the most defensive about right now as he prepares for the info to get out, if indeed there’s nothing tying those payments to something wrong (or criminal) in a verifiable way. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/180 "2024-12-19T19:45:09Z")
They interviewed witnesses, eg the women he slept with, so all of that’s going to come out. I’m guessing one or more of them admitted that they were paid for sex. I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed for any prostitution charges, so as long as none of the witnesses admitted to being underage when they slept with him, this is mostly a political scandal. He’s laying the groundwork to call them liars. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2024, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567/181 "2024-12-20T11:31:57Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > You know who also sends funds to women they date? Oddly enough, most of them are named John. Like John Barron? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/matt-gaetz-withdraws-from-ag-nomination/1010567.md?page=10)