Washington, DC — Senator Chuck Grassley says the allegations swirling around President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general seem like a replay of what happened in 2018 to one of Trump’s US Supreme Court nominees.
Grassley, a Republican, was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee when the committee advanced Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the nation’s highest court — and Grassley will lead the panel next year as it considers now-former US Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
Grassley says he will go into the nomination hearing on Gaetz with an open mind.
Gaetz, a Florida congressman, resigned immediately after Trump announced Gaetz was his pick for attorney general. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use against Gaetz. A spokesman for Trump says the accusations are baseless and are an attempt to derail Trump’s second administration. The speaker of the House has said it would be unfair to release the committee’s report now that Gaetz is a private citizen. A Republican Senator from Oklahoma who served with Gaetz in the House has called for the release of the ethics committee’s report, but Grassley says it’s up to the House to decide.
The US Department of Justice, which Gaetz would head, also investigated criminal claims against Gaetz — but filed no charges.
