Donald Trump ruffled more than a few feathers on Capitol Hill when he announced Wednesday that he had called Matt Gaetz to be his next attorney general.

Gaetz, 42, is one of the most controversial lawmakers in Congress, having been accused of several controversies; including showing photos of naked women on the House floor and conducting an investigation into potential sex trafficking.

Before the Floridian can join Trump’s cabinet as the nation’s top law enforcement official, he will have to undergo a Senate confirmation hearing that is sure to see him questioned about his long list of scandals.

A single “no” to the bill against human trafficking

In 2017, Gaetz, a new member of Congress, was not yet a national name. Yet he turned heads across the country after being the lone “no” vote on an anti-human trafficking bill that easily passed the House and Senate.

Gaetz explained – from a Facebook Live in his living room – that he voted no because he believed the bill, the Commercial Vehicle Anti-Human Trafficking Act, would represent a “drift of the mission” at the federal level. Simply put, he felt the bill would result in more government bureaucracy than necessary, even though he agreed with the bill’s goal. However, Gaetz was still criticized for being the lone opposing vote, and his “no” vote resurfaced years later, following the fallout from his alleged sex trafficking investigation.

Bringing a right-wing troll to SOTU

Gaetz was the subject of nationwide scrutiny again in 2018 when he brought far-right internet troll Chuck Johnson to the State of the Union address. The choice of guests was all the more puzzling because some of Gaetz’s colleagues from Florida had chosen to bring survivors of a devastating hurricane and the family of a hostage in Iran.

Gaetz, meanwhile, deemed it appropriate to bring in Johnson; a man who had been banned from Twitter, accused of white nationalism and Holocaust denial, and who was perhaps best known for the proliferation of fake news. Gaetz told Daily Beast back when he gave Johnson a ticket simply because he showed up at his office the day of the speech. Johnson, meanwhile, said he was a Gaetz fan because he had “that shit mindset.”

“Witness to Bullying” by Michael Cohen

Gaetz had transformed himself into a national firebrand in 2019, serving as a staunch defender of Donald Trump who appeared frequently on Fox News. It was this year that Gaetz, a day before Michael Cohen was scheduled to speak before the House Oversight Committee – accusing the former Trump fixer-turned-enemy of being unfaithful to his wife, in what turned out to be a veiled threat.

Gaetz, tagging Cohen’s account on Twitter, wrote: “Do your wife and father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time to talk. I wonder if she will remain faithful when you are in prison. She’s about to learn a lot…”

The post was deleted after Gaetz was reprimanded for posting it. Gaetz insisted this was not “witness intimidation,” but simply “witness testing.” The Florida Bar opened an investigation into Gaetz but ultimately exonerated him.

Nestor, the hidden Cuban “son”, emerges

In the summer of 2020, Gaetz found himself in a difficult situation. fiery altercation with former Rep. Cedric Richmond during a congressional hearing on police reform. During a heated exchange, Gaetz exploded at Richmond for suggesting he didn’t know what it was like to fear for a black son.

Gaetz was unmarried and, as far as the public knew, childless at the time, so many people were left scratching their heads after his trade to Richmond. That same day, however, the Florida congressman posted a photo on Twitter of who he described as “my son Nestor,” a 19-year-old Cuban who had apparently lived with him for six years. “We don’t share blood but he is my life,” Gaetz said. He also emphasized in his message that Nestor came to Florida “legally.”

The relationship between Gaetz and Nestor, however, has since been scrutinized. Nestor is the son of Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend and lived with Gaetz and his blood family in Florida. Gaetz was also found to have described Nestor in social media posts as a “local student” in 2016 and as “my assistant” in 2017.

Sex trafficking investigation

The New York Times published a explosive report in 2021, which claimed Gaetz was under investigation by the Justice Department for sex trafficking. Among the allegations against Gaetz were that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to cross state lines. “It is patently false that I traveled with a 17-year-old woman,” he said at the time.

Ultimately, the DOJ announced last year that no charges would be filed against Gaetz and that its investigation was complete. However, his friend, Florida Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to numerous sex crimes and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 2021, the Daily Beast reported on a confession letter which was written by Greenberg in which he claimed that Gaetz paid him to arrange for sex with several women and a 17-year-old girl. The Beast also revealed private Venmo logs it showed Gaetz sent money to Greenberg, even using a nickname for the teen.

Although Gaetz was legally absolved, the scandal damaged his reputation on the Hill and apparently gave rise to unsavory stories about the lawmaker. Most recently, this included court documents released in September alleging Gaetz was present at a party in 2017. with a naked high school student who was there to “engage in sexual activity” while drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy were present.

Naked photos on the house floor

A CNN report alleged in 2021 that Gaetz proudly showed images and clips of naked women he had sex with to his aides and lawmakers while at the U.S. Capitol and the House. Among the alleged videos posted on Gaetz’s phone was a naked woman with a hula hoop. A source told CNN that the seedy clips were a “point of pride” for the congressman.

The CNN report suggests that Gaetz’s allegedly sordid conduct was part of a pattern by the congressman. The network reported that staff who worked for former House Speaker Paul Ryan once had to meet with Gaetz during his first term to lecture him on professional behavior in the House.

Gaetz denied CNN’s report “in the strongest terms possible.” Just before the story broke, Gaetz claimed that he and his family had been “victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name.”

Can you forgive me?

Although it was perhaps his least controversial scandal, Gaetz was thoroughly grilled in 2022 when testimony from a Trump lawyer – appearing as part of a committee hearing on January 6 – revealed that the lawmaker allegedly asked for a total forgiveness of Trump during his final days in office.

That lawyer, Eri Herschmann, said in a deposition that Gaetz had requested a presidential pardon “from the beginning of time until today, for all things.” Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House adviser, also said Gaetz had been seeking a pardon since “early December” in 2020, but she said she didn’t know why.

After the deposition clip was released, Gaetz dismissed the committee as a “political spectacle” while other lawmakers, like former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, noted that the request was proof that Gaetz wasn’t up to anything. Good. “The only reason you ask for forgiveness is if you think you committed a crime,” Kinzinger said.

House Ethics Committee investigation emerges

Perhaps the most pressing scandal for Gaetz today is a House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened last year. The investigation, initially opened in 2021 but suspended, is investigating Gaetz for sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, misuse of state identification documents and corruption.

Gaetz denied any wrongdoing when the investigation was announced in 2023 and said it was “not something that worries me.” He also suggested he was targeted because of his political views, saying: “It’s also funny how the one guy who doesn’t accept the corrupt lobbyist and PAC money seems to be the subject of the greatest number of ethics investigations. »

The investigation remained open Wednesday, but on Wednesday evening, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that Gaetz would resign from Congress “effective immediately” following his nomination as attorney general by President-elect Trump, killing him Thus.

When news of Gaetz’s appointment broke, ABC News reported that there was an “audible gasp” in a room of House Republicans meeting behind closed doors.