New Leak as Congressman Matt Gaetz Leaves U.S. Attorney General Race and Congress

As new allegations surface against U.S. politician Matt Gaetz, the Republican also announced he won't be returning to Congress after withdrawing his name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.

Citing undisclosed sources familiar with testimony at the House Ethics Committee, CNN reported that the woman who says she had sex with Gaetz when she was a minor also claims she had two sexual encounters with the politician at one party in 2017.

Per the report, the woman was 17 years old at the time, while Gaetz was 35. However, per the testimony, the encounter also included another adult woman, who denied participating. Meanwhile, a separate report by The New York Times claims that a document prepared by federal investigators shows that women were hired for sex by Gaetz.

In either case, the Republican denied having sex with a minor. The Justice Department investigated the alleged encounters and decided not to press charges against Gaetz last year.

Earlier this week, he announced that he would be withdrawing his name from consideration to serve as Attorney General, stating, "There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle."

"While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,"

Gaetz posted on X.

Later, he confirmed in an interview with conservative media personality Charlie Kirk that he won't be rejoining Congress, saying, "Eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress."

Gaetz, a longstanding supporter of Trump, describes himself as a libertarian populist and is regarded as a proponent of far-right politics.