'Kavanaugh on steroids': Gaetz, Vance meet with GOP senators amid questions
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be attorney general, met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning alongside Vice President-elect JD Vance, making his case for the job hours before the House Ethics Committee discussed its report on him, ultimately deciding against releasing its report.
Several senators had called for the House Ethics Committee to release its report into Gaetz over allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use before they would consider his confirmation.
The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday voted against releasing its report on Gaetz after multiple rounds of votes, a source familiar tells ABC News.
After Trump announced Gaetz as his attorney general pick, the Florida congressman resigned from the House, meaning the House Ethics Committee no longer has the jurisdiction to continue its investigation into him -- however Republicans and Democrats had argued whether a break in that precedent was necessary for the Senate to perform its constitutional duty to advise and consent to presidential nominations.
The Justice Department also spent years probing sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz, as well as allegations of obstruction of justice, before informing Gaetz last year that it would not bring charges. Gaetz has long denied any wrongdoing related to the allegations investigated during the congressional and Justice Department probes.
Republican Sens. Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee, Marsha Blackburn, John Kennedy and John Cornyn met with Vance and Gaetz on Wednesday.
The former congressman said the meetings have "been going great."
"Senators have been giving me a lot of good advice. I'm looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive, and they've been saying we are going to get a fair process so it's a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration," Gaetz said.
Gaetz said he hasn't spoken to Trump on Wednesday, "But I had a great time with the vice president-elect talking about how we are going to end weaponization at the Department of Justice, we are going to tackle fentanyl, we are going to ensure that we don't have the DOJ involved in censorship anymore, and make sure that we have the country back on track and are there for President Trump's total fulfillment of his promise on his immigration agenda."
Asked if he was confident he could be confirmed, Gaetz replied, "It was a great day."
When asked how messy Gaetz's confirmation hearing could become, Sen. Cornyn joked to reporters it could be "Kavanaugh on steroids" -- a reference to the now-U.S. Supreme Court justice's contentious confirmation hearings in 2018.
"He's a smart guy," Cornyn added. "I'm sure he realizes that."
Sen. Graham told reporters that the meeting went well and that Gaetz deserves a fair nomination process.
"Here's what I told him, no rubber stamps and no lynch mob. I'm not going to be part of a process that leaks information that shouldn't be leaked," Graham said. "I'm not going to legitimize the process to destroy the man because people don't like his politics. He will be held to account in the confirmation process. He deserves a chance to make his argument why he should be attorney general."
Hawley defended Gaetz's nomination.
"My intention is to vote for all the president's nominees," Hawley said. "I think for my colleagues who are -- who have concerns about the Attorney General nominee, my message would be, well, let's have a hearing on this. You can ask whatever -- if you're a member of the committee, you can ask whatever question you want, give Gaetz the opportunity to answer questions, lay out his vision, answer concerns."
Hawley said Gaetz understands his job, if confirmed, is to "serve at the pleasure of the president."
"You gotta remember that cabinet secretary is not an exercise in individuality. I mean, you're there to serve at the pleasure of the president. That's the job, and he has a sense of what the president wants to do in terms of prioritizing law enforcement, getting the department out of the business of political prosecutions. So he wants a chance to lay that out," Hawley said.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday to request the complete evidentiary file in the bureau's closed investigation into Gaetz. Included in the ask is a request for forms that memorialize interviews conducted as part of the investigation.
The Democrats argued in the letter that there is precedent for the FBI providing these sorts of documents to Congress, including instances when Republicans obtained these documents.
As Vance and Gaetz met with senators, Trump attempted to blame Democrats for the allegations launched against some of his controversial Cabinet picks.
"They dirty them up, they destroy them, and then they spit them out. They are trying that right now with some great American Patriots who are only trying to fix the mess that the Democrats have made of our Country," Trump posted on his social media platform Wednesday afternoon.
ABC News' Will Steakin, John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Jay O'Brien and Chris Boccia contributed to this report.
