Thursday Briefing
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/briefing/gaetz-ethics-israel-ukraine.html
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Republicans blocked the release of an ethics report
House Republicans voted to block the release of an Ethics Committee report about allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use against Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general, setting up a possible constitutional clash between the House and the Senate.
Separately, federal investigators established a trail of payments made by Gaetz to women, including some who testified that he had hired them for sex, according to a document obtained by The Times and a lawyer representing some of the women.
The document shows a web of thousands of dollars in Venmo payments between Gaetz and a group of his friends, associates and women who had drug-fueled sex parties between 2017 and 2020, according to testimony that participants are said to have given to federal and congressional investigators.
The latest: Gaetz, who has gleefully disparaged some Republican senators whose votes he now needs to be confirmed as attorney general, went to Capitol Hill yesterday to win the support of key members. Senator JD Vance, the vice president-elect, ushered him to the meetings.
Context: It was not so long ago that nominees for high-level jobs needed to be above reproach, to the point where a relatively minor tax issue could derail them, Carl Hulse writes in this analysis. But times are evidently changing.
In other politics news:
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Trump tapped Matthew Whitaker, who served as acting attorney general in 2018, as ambassador to NATO.
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The president-elect’s pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, is an unconventional choice.
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Speaker Mike Johnson said he supported an effort to block Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, from using Capitol women’s rooms.
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China hawks are set to join Trump’s cabinet. But there are signs that he might consider a more moderate approach.