Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as Donald Trump ‘s nominee for attorney general in a stunning reversal for the president-elect.

It followed a new allegation that the embattled Republican had a threesome that involved a minor.

The announcement came a day after the House Ethics Committee deadlocked on releasing a report into allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use by Gaetz.

On Wednesday, Gaetz had met with Republican senators whose support he would have needed to be confirmed as attorney general.

‘I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support of so many. 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 wrote on X.

‘There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1,’ he noted. 

Many senators had privately expressed concerns about whether Gaetz could be confirmed due to the ethics investigation about allegations of drug use, sex parties and sex with a minor. 

Gaetz has already resigned from the House of Representatives for this term but was re-elected to the Congress that is sworn into office on January 3rd. He said he did not intend to be sworn in to the seat in January but he can change his mind.

CNN said they had informed Gaetz at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday they had testimony a woman gave the House Ethics Committee that she had two sexual encounters with Gaetz at one party in 2017.

The woman, who was 17 years old at the time, testified that the second sexual encounter, which has not previously been reported, included another adult woman. 

CNN said they had told Gaetz the story was going live at 12:30 pm ET.

He posted on social media at 12:24 pm he was withdrawing his nomination. 

Gaetz called Trump ‘this am’ and told him of his decision to withdraw, a source familiar told DailyMail.com.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied the sexual encounters. 

The adult woman has denied participating in the alleged second encounter in her testimony to the Ethics committee, CNN reported.

Gaetz only made it nine days as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.

Trump said he appreciated Gaetz and expected great things from him.

‘I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!,’ the president-elect wrote on Truth Social.

Trump has ‘no back up’ for attorney general and is going ‘back to the drawing board,’ CNN reported.

He originally nominated Gaetz because he was struggling to find a candidate he liked, the network said.

Trump had been calling senators to rally support for his nominee. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, a senator, had been taking Gaetz around the Senate the past two days to work on his confirmation. 

Gaetz’s wife Ginger Luckey responded to her husband’s announcement with ‘Nobody loves America more than you’ and an emoji of hands making a heart shape.

Gaetz made his case to Trump for being named his Attorney General on Trump Force One when Trump was on his way to Washington D.C. to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House shortly after he won the November election.

He is a longtime Trump loyalist and, when he nominated him, the president-elect said Gaetz ‘will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.’ 

Gaetz’s confirmation was expected to be a tough fight. Some senators expressed relief at his exit.

‘I think that was appropriate,’ outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said.

‘I think it’s the best decision that Rep. Gaetz could have made,’ Republican Senator Susan Collins said. ‘He has put country first, and I’m pleased with his decision.’ 

‘There were a lot of red flags,’ she added.

Another Republican senator, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, said it would give Trump the opportunity to nominate an attorney general with fewer headwinds in the Senate. 

Republican strategist Scott Jennings said: ‘He (Trump) went out on a limb on this one and it got sawed off pretty quickly.’

He said the transition is having ‘more twists and turns than an M. Night Shyamalan movie.’

Democrats were more blunt. 

‘Holy s*** I didn’t see that coming, you know, if you want to respond to absolute trolling, you know, then you really got to pace yourself. It’s not even Thanksgiving,’ said Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. 

The Justice Department had closed its investigation of Gaetz last year after prosecutors recommended that no criminal charges be brought against him.

However, the House Ethics Committee was wrapping up its investigation and preparing to release its report.

Members on the bipartisan panel had been investigating allegations that Trump’s attorney general pick Gaetz had sex with a minor and did illegal drugs while a federal employee. 

Gaetz’s resignation from the 118th Congress meant he was no longer subject to the ethics panel. The panel voted Wednesday not to release the report on Gaetz. 

Releasing it would break with past precedent set by the panel that no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz after he resigned from Congress one day after being tapped to be the nation’s highest law enforcement official.

Still, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have publicly called on the report to be released. 

Fueling those calls is the recent testimony from a Orlando-based attorney Joel Leppard who represents two women who claim to have information on Gaetz’s allegedly lurid past.

Gaetz allegedly partied, used drugs and paid women for sex repeatedly between 2017 and 2019 while serving in the House of Representatives, Leppard claims.

The bombshell allegations have been central to the  House Ethics Committee investigation into the ex-lawmaker as the women have reportedly testified before the panel. 

The Republican attended up to 10 ‘sex parties’ where illegal drugs and ‘group sex situations’ were present, according to Leppard.

Both women represented by Leppard allege that Gaetz paid them for sex via Venmo, the attorney claims. 

‘She testified [that] in July of 2017, at this house party, she was walking out to the pool area, and she looked to her right, and she saw Rep. Gaetz having sex with her friend, who was 17,’ Leppard said Monday.

One of the witnesses alleges that she saw her friends having sex with Gaetz at a party in July 2017 against a game table thought to be an air hockey table.

The unnamed witness also says that her friend was 17 years old at the time.

Gaetz paid upwards of $10,000 dollars to two women on Venmo between 2017 – 2019, ABC News reports. 

Gaetz was sworn-in as a member of the House of Representatives in January 2017, so all of the allegations against him come during his tenure as a federal employee. 

He claimed he has done nothing wrong and that the allegations against him amount to a ‘false smear.’

Gaetz also said he had never engaged in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18 in a letter posted to his social media in September.

‘The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,’ he wrote. ‘The lawful, consensual sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress.’ 

Gaetz has also said that the Ethics Committee’s actions seem to be unfairly targeting him, and he announced he would no longer comply with their investigation. 

‘The answer to this question is unequivocally NO,’ he wrote. ‘The lawful, consensual sexual activities of adults are not the business of Congress.’