CNN commentator and The View co-host Ana Navarro issued an epic fact-check while calling out the hypocrisy of Republicans backing former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General despite his sex trafficking allegations.
Gaetz was previously the subject of a Justice Department investigation into alleged sex trafficking involving a 17-year-old girl and has faced scrutiny from the House Ethics Committee over accusations of sexual misconduct. However, that inquiry effectively concluded last week when Gaetz announced his resignation from Congress.
Gaetz, a vocal ally of President-elect Donald Trump, has long been entangled in controversies that now pose a significant challenge to his confirmation through a Republican-controlled Senate to be the nation’s top federal law enforcement official.
He has consistently denied any misconduct, asserting last year that the Justice Department concluded its investigation into allegations of sex trafficking involving underage girls without filing federal charges against him.
Speaking amid calls for the House Ethics Committee to release their findings, Navarro noted that two of former President Bill Clinton's Attorney General nominees were not confirmed for reasons that sound rather quaint today in an era where "the laws and the statutes and the protocol that applied every other time, just seems not to apply to Donald Trump."
She said:
"Let me just say this. I remember when Bill Clinton had two attorney general nominees — Zoe Baird and Kimba Wood — who were eliminated, who had to withdraw, because they had employed illegal nannies."
"Matt Gaetz is accused of sleeping with a girl who's almost young enough to need a nanny, and Republicans are saying, 'There's nothing to see here.'"
You can hear her remarks in the video below.
Navarro is correct.
Clinton's nomination of corporate lawyer Zoe Baird faced intense criticism after revelations that she and her husband had violated federal law by hiring two undocumented immigrants from Peru as a nanny and chauffeur for their child.
Additionally, they had failed to pay Social Security taxes for the workers until shortly before the scandal came to light, costing Baird critical support in Congress and ultimately derailing her nomination.
Weeks later, federal judge Kimba Wood emerged as Clinton's next choice for the position. However, her nomination was quickly withdrawn after it was revealed that she had also employed an undocumented immigrant to care for her child.
Although Wood’s hiring was legal at the time, and she had paid Social Security taxes for the worker, the disclosures were enough to prompt her withdrawal. The controversy surrounding both failed nominations became widely known as "Nannygate."
When you consider how much those two nominations shook up Congress, it's wild that Republicans are looking the other way in regard to Gaetz's nomination.
Many have echoed Navarro's criticisms.
The House Ethics Committee is expected to meet today to vote on releasing their report.
The evenly divided committee would need just one Republican to join all the panel's Democrats to approve the release of the report. However, prominent Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, have urged against its publication.
Releasing the report could jeopardize Gaetz’s chances of Senate confirmation. However, Trump has suggested the possibility of using recess appointments to bypass the confirmation process and install his nominees.
