Matt Gaetz’s most controversial moments

It remains unclear if former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida can overcome his past controversies to get confirmed to lead President-elect Donald Trump’s Justice Department.

President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of the controversial former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the next Attorney General shocked Washington

In just under seven years in Washington, Gaetz has led the historic ouster of a House speaker and been the subject of a Justice Department investigation into whether he sex trafficked a minor. He has also been the subject of multiple House Ethics Committee probes.

It remains an open question on if Gaetz will get confirmed as Attorney General. If he does, the Floridian’s past calls to abolish the Justice Department — which includes the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — will be put to the test.

Here are some of the most controversial moments of Gaetz’s career so far:

He invited a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union.

One of Gaetz’s first major moments was the fracas over his 2018 invitation to renowned internet troll Charles C. Johnson to attend Trump’s first State of the Union address. Gaetz told The Daily Beast he simply invited Johnson because he “showed up at my office.” Gaetz later defended Johnson, who has said he never “believed” six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, telling Fox Business that his guest was “not a Holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist.”

A warning to Michael Cohen sets off a frenzy.

Michael Cohen, then-President Trump’s former fixer, was just a day away from testifying before the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee when Gaetz launched a broadside at him.

“Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter in February 2019. “I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.”

House Democrats were outraged. Gaetz deleted his tweet and later offered a rare apology.

“While it is important 2 create context around the testimony of liars like Michael Cohen, it was NOT my intent to threaten, as some believe I did,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter, quoting Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s implicit rebuke of him. “I’m deleting the tweet & I should have chosen words that better showed my intent. I’m sorry.”

Democrats urged the House Ethics Committee to investigate the matter. The panel later cleared Gaetz of wrongdoing but admonished him for not reflecting “creditably upon the House of Representatives.” The Florida Bar Association, which conducted its own probe of the matter, also cleared Gaetz, though it too criticized his action.

Gaetz’s “wingman” was charged with sex crimes. He nearly brought down the congressman too.

During the final months of the Trump administration, the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether Gatez had sex with a 17-year-old and if he had paid for her travel, potentially violating laws against sex trafficking.

Gaetz conduct came to light during a separate investigation of Joel Greenberg, a local Florida official, that the congressman had once described as his “wingman.” Greenberg was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The news unleashed a frenzy. Reporters dove into Gaetz’s Venmo payments to Greenberg. B-17 and other publications reported on Gaetz’s conduct in the Florida House, including a “Harry Potter”-themed sex competition. Gaetz’s own colleagues told reporters how the congressman boasted about the women he slept with and would show off their nude photos to them.

Gaetz repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. In February 2023, Gaetz’s attorneys said in a statement that the DOJ would not charge the congressman. The Washington Post had previously reported that prosecutors were uncertain they would get a conviction to stick based on credibility issues with key witnesses.

He nearly got into a brawl on the House floor.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was widely presumed to be the next House speaker when Republicans retook the chamber in the 2022 midterms. Gaetz and a handful of other lawmakers had other plans. Things reached a boiling point in January 2023 after the 14th failed vote. Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, had to be restrained after he lunged at Gatez, whose opposition to McCarthy continued to prevent him from obtaining the speaker’s gavel.

McCarthy won on the next ballot. Rogers later apologized for his actions.

Gaetz’s beef with McCarthy continues.

McCarthy became speaker, but Gaetz and other conservatives held a procedural sword over his head. One single member could start the process of ousting the Speaker of the House. In October 2023, Gaetz filed a motion to vacate. With the help of seven other House Republicans and House Democrats, McCarthy was booted from power.

Gaetz said he led the charge to oust McCarthy over policy differences. McCarthy has never wavered from his conviction that his historic removal was rooted in revenge.

“I’ll give you the truth why I’m not speaker,” McCarthy said in April 2024. “Because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old, an ethics complaint that started before I ever became speaker. And that’s illegal, and I’m not gonna get in the middle of it.”

McCarthy has also said Gaetz belongs in “jail.”

McCarthy and Gaetz continue to remain at loggerheads. During the 2024 Republican National Convention, Gaetz had to be shooed away after he disrupted McCarthy while the former speaker conducted a TV interview.

“What night are you speaking?” Gaetz said, mockingly. “Are you speaking tonight?”

After Gaetz’s nomination was announced, McCarthy predicted his foe would not get confirmed.

House Ethics Committee probes Gatez

The House Ethics Committee opened its probe into Gaetz in 2021. The secretive panel paused its investigation while the DOJ charges lingered, but in May of 2023, it dived back in.

The committee, which rarely makes public statements, went so far as to say it was investigating whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, accepted improper gifts, or obstructed investigations. Gaetz has denied all of the allegations.

According to the Times, lawmakers were prepared to vote on Friday to release their damning findings into Gaetz’s conduct. Before they could do so, the Florida Republican abruptly resigned. Trump had just tapped him to be the next Attorney General.