Foreign
Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s nominee for attorney general
- /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://naijablitznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Matt-Gaetz1-1-1000x576.jpg&description=Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s nominee for attorney general', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 72
https://naijablitznews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Matt-Gaetz1-1-1000x576.jpg&description=Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s nominee for attorney general', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to become attorney general after days of debate over whether to release a congressional report on sexual misconduct allegations against him.
On X, formerly Twitter, the 42-year-old said that the controversy over his potential nomination “was unfairly becoming a distraction” to the work of the incoming Trump administration.
The report included the findings of a probe sparked by allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
Gaetz has denied the claims but said that he hoped to avoid a “needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.”
The withdrawal of Gaetz – who Donald Trump selected to be the top US law enforcement officer – represents a setback for the president-elect.
On his own Truth Social social media platform, the former and soon-to-be president said he appreciated Gaetz’s effort to become attorney general.
“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,” Trump added.
In his post on X, formerly Twitter, Gaetz said that Trump’s justice department “must be in place and ready” on the first day of his administration in January.
“I remain fully committed to see that Donald J Trump is the most successful president in history,” he wrote.
“I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will save America,” Gaetz added.
The shadow cast by the long-running investigation by a congressional ethics panel into a number of claims involving drugs, bribes and sex meant that Gaetz was likely to face an uphill battle when it came time to be confirmed by the US Senate.
Lawmakers – including some fellow Senate Republicans – had expressed concern about his nomination, reportedly prompting a significant closed-door effort by him and Trump to secure the necessary support.
The day before his withdrawal, the House Ethics Committee – which compiled the report – met behind closed doors to debate whether or not it should release the report into Gaetz.
The committee’s ranking Democrat, Susan Wild, said that the group had not been able to come to an agreement and was evenly divided, 5-5, on party lines.
Its chairman, Michael Guest, told reporters on Thursday that his withdrawal “should end the discussion of whether or not the ethics committee should move forward in his matter.”
“He is no longer a member of Congress, and so I think that this settles any involvement that the ethics committee should have in any matters involving Mr Gaetz,” he said.
Gaetz resigned from his House seat last week after Trump nominated him to become attorney general.
It is unclear whom Trump will nominate in his place.
The allegations stem, in part, from a woman’s claims that she attended a 2017 party with him and witnessed the then-congressman having sex with a minor.
The woman’s lawyer later said that the woman, as well as another witness, were paid by Gaetz to have sex with him.
A separate three-year federal sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz ended with no charges brought against him.
Will Matt Gaetz return to Congress?
It is unclear what will come next for Gaetz, who provided no detail on his future plans in his announcement.
President-Elect Trump said only that he has a “wonderful future” and will do “great things”.
Experts have suggested that it is unlikely that Gaetz would try to return to the House – where he was re-elected to his seat in the November election – as it would mean that the Ethics Committee report could be made public.
Senior Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have used his resignation as justification to avoid publishing the committee’s findings.
But he could return to the Capitol in the upper chamber. Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, could appoint him to a vacant seat that is likely to be left by Senator Marco Rubio, whom Trump has nominated as his secretary of state.
Gaetz could also lobby for another position in the administration that does not require a Senate confirmation.
Who could replace him as Attorney General nominee?
Moving forward, Trump is likely to pick another attorney general nominee to carry out his agenda at the justice department – which he has described as ending “weaponised government”, protecting US borders, dismantling criminal organisations and restoring Americans’ “badly-shattered faith and confidence” in the department.
On Monday, some of Trump’s congressional allies said they were ready to begin assessing other contenders.
“This provides the president an opportunity to look at other very qualified individuals who can help to revamp the justice department,” South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds was quoted as saying by Politico.
“Probably a number of them would be very acceptable to members of the Senate, who really do want to see the president’s agenda move forward,” he added.
Rounds added that he believes that there was “some information out there that the president was not aware of when he made the original recommendation”.
Among the names so far put forward as possibilities are:
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Former Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey
Utah Senator Mike Lee
Former Office of Management and Budget general counsel Mark Paoletta
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, told the BBC that “an obvious candidate” would be Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in his New York criminal trial and has already been nominated to serve as deputy attorney general.
Other possibilities include Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares or senior Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton or Josh Hawley.
The latter two have suggested that they would prefer to stay in the Senate.
An Ecuadorian court has sentenced former President Lenin Moreno to five years in prison for accepting bribes linked to the construction of the country’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Moreno, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, was among 20 people convicted over corruption allegations surrounding the Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric project, which was built by Chinese company Sinohydro.
Prosecutors alleged that Sinohydro paid about $76 million in bribes, representing roughly four per cent of the project’s total cost.
Moreno, 73, denied the allegations and maintained that he never received money from the Chinese company.
Speaking after Friday’s ruling, the former president said he had never received “a single cent” from Sinohydro.
He also blamed the case on the administration of his former political ally and predecessor, Rafael Correa, whom he accused of seeking revenge after their political relationship deteriorated.
Moreno served as Correa’s vice-president between 2007 and 2013 before succeeding him as president. The two later fell out after Moreno moved away from Correa’s socialist policies and developed closer ties with the United States.
The court also sentenced Moreno’s wife and other relatives to nearly three years in prison for complicity in the corruption case.
Two former managers of the Coca Codo Sinclair power plant were also among those convicted.
Prosecutors had initially requested a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Moreno.
The former president has announced plans to appeal the judgment.
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for official US federal use, in the latest escalation of his dispute with Canada.
Trump signed the order on Thursday at the White House, saying the change was effective immediately. The order directs the US Department of the Interior to update federal geographic records and naming systems.
Trump justified the move by accusing Canada of treating the United States unfairly in trade and defence. He said Canada had been “ripping us off” in trade and criticised Ottawa over its relationship with Washington.
However, the order does not require Canada or international organisations to adopt the new name. Lake Ontario is shared by the US state of New York and Canada’s province of Ontario, with more than half of its surface area lying in Canadian territory.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford dismissed the move, saying the lake would continue to be known as Lake Ontario by Canadians and much of the rest of the world.
The renaming comes amid a rapidly worsening US-Canada trade dispute. Washington recently imposed 50 per cent tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, while Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of its own on hundreds of US products.
The latest move echoes Trump’s decision in January 2025 to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” for US federal purposes.
Trump also suggested that further geographic name changes could be considered, joking that after a gulf and a lake, the United States might eventually rename the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government had not immediately issued a formal response to the latest order.
The controversy has added another symbolic dimension to already strained relations between the two neighbouring countries, as both sides continue to impose tariffs and seek to protect their economies.
The United States Secret Service has confirmed that it is aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state media that appears to threaten the life of Barron Trump, the youngest son of US President Donald Trump.
The nearly three-minute video, aired by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), opens with an English-language graphic asking: “Where to kill Barron Trump?!” It then displays stylised graphics identifying places where Barron is publicly known to spend time, including Trump Tower in New York.
The video ends with a narrator referring to people being “eagerly waiting to receive our $10 million reward.”
Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring confirmed that the agency was investigating the video as a potential threat against one of its protectees.
“The US Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees,” Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told CNN in a statement. “Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence.”
The apparent targeting of Barron marks a new development in a broader pattern of threats directed at Trump and members of his family by hard-line Iranian media.
Iranian media outlets have previously published material threatening President Trump and his family, while first lady Melania Trump has also been the subject of threats. However, the video appears to be the first public instance in which Barron has been specifically singled out.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN that the video forms part of a wider campaign of material from Iran targeting Trump and his family. According to the source, some of the videos have included details about movements and suggestions for killing members of the president’s family.
The security response to such threats involves continuously changing and adjusting protective arrangements, based on information gathered by the Secret Service, other US agencies, police authorities and foreign governments.
IRIB, which broadcast the video, is regarded as aligned with hard-liners within Iran’s regime, while its head is directly appointed by Iran’s supreme leader.
Trump has previously spoken publicly about threats against his life from Iran.
“I’m on whatever list… so far, I guess I’ve been a bit lucky, but maybe that doesn’t last very long. These are evil, sick people.”
He made the comments in July at the NATO summit in Turkey, before secretly leaving the country aboard an alternate military aircraft.
The departure was part of an elaborate security operation reportedly triggered by an Iranian threat. Trump boarded the aircraft while concealed inside a catering truck after officials determined that travelling on either version of Air Force One could expose him to an unacceptable level of danger.
A person familiar with the matter told CNN that the threat involved a shoulder-fired missile and was considered specific enough for officials to fear that Trump’s life would be at enormous risk if he travelled on either version of Air Force One.
OPay Rubbishes Viral Shutdown Rumour, Warns Against Fake Publication
Zamfara 2027 governorship battle: Group salutes PDP candidate for scaling INEC hurdle, pledges mobilisation support
British Nigerian heavy weight boxer, Moses Itauma discharged from hospital
-
Politics21 hours agoKwara 2027: Zakari Mohammed, Kale Kawu, Speaker Danladi, Apaokagi Make The List As INEC Displays Names, Details Of Guber Candidates
-
News21 hours agoI Won’t Ever Forgive APC – El-Rufai’s Son
-
News20 hours agoPower Mystery: FG probes missing 100MW, N120bn revenue loss
-
News17 hours agoRep Chinda, others make INEC list as gubernatorial candidates for Rivers
-
News20 hours agoHow to apply for FG’s N10bn TETFund research grant
-
Metro20 hours ago25 terrorists killed as troops repel attack on Borno community
-
Metro20 hours agoSokoto Hisbah denies imposing restrictions on Christian worship
-
News16 hours agoBREAKING: Nigerian British heavyweight boxer Itauma carried out on stretcher after being knocked out in world title bout
Warning: Undefined variable $user_ID in /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/comments.php on line 49
You must be logged in to post a comment Login