By Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) – Two women who claim they were paid for sex Former Rep. Matt Gaetz provided House ethics investigators with “numerous” photos related to time they spent with the Florida Republican, a lawyer for the ladies said Tuesday, including from an alleged trip to New York in 2019.

The women said they were paid by the previous congressman for sex on that trip, during which in addition they accompanied Gaetz at a Fox News studio while he filmed a television appearance, their attorney Joel Leppard told CNN's Erin Burnett on “OutFront.” “. Gaetz also allegedly covered the ladies's travel expenses, Leppard said.

The women also provided the House Ethics Committee with selfies that Gaetz allegedly sent them, in line with their lawyer. They also said they sent Gaetz nude photos, sometimes at his request, Leppard said.

Gaetz was recently tapped President-elect Donald Trump named him his attorney general and resigned from Congress last week, effectively ending the ethics investigation against him. The panel had been investigating allegations of misconduct against Gaetz, including “sexual misconduct and illegal drug use,” and is considering releasing a report on its findings.

When asked by the committee whether or not they had ever felt pressured by Gaetz, Leppard said considered one of his clients testified that she felt the necessity to “please” the then-congressman before she met throughout the New York visit Attended electronic music show.

CNN has reached out to Gaetz for comment. Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Leppard's account of the deposition provides further insight into the evidence the House committee collected in its investigation, which was conducted along with a criminal investigation by the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors declined to charge Gaetz – a choice the previous congressman has pointed to as he vehemently defended the allegations, which include an allegation that he had sex with a then-underage woman who later testified in each investigations has rejected.

“Merrick Garland's Justice Department has cleared Matt Gaetz and has not filed charges against him,” a spokesman for Gaetz told CNN last week.

As the Senate prepares to formally consider Gaetz for the role of attorney general, Democrats and a few Republicans are demanding access to the House panel's report. After Gaetz abruptly resigned from Congress following Trump's election announcement, the committee postponed its meetings discuss the publication of the report The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has said previously that he would stay out of the Ethics Committee's affairs, has opposed the discharge of the report.

Leppard noted that the House panel heard testimony from several other witnesses.

“The evidence before the House is, in my opinion, overwhelming because my clients were only two of the other witnesses, and there are very important witnesses who have not yet come out and previewed the findings of the House Ethics Committee. “show,” he said.

According to the attorney, House investigators asked the 2 women for records they obtained that showed payments, mostly transmitted electronically, that were allegedly made to them by Gaetz. Leppard said records show considered one of his clients received greater than $6,000 and the opposite received greater than $4,000 from the congressman.

“What I’m telling you is just a fraction of the evidence available, the thousands of documents,” Leppard said.

CNN's Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

The CNN Wire
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Originally published: November 20, 2024 at 5:50 pm PST

policy

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he’ll nominate Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as his attorney general, naming a loyalist to the role of the nation's top prosecutor.

In choosing the congressman, Trump unnoticed among the more established lawyers whose names had been mentioned as candidates for the post.

“Matt will end the gun government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans' deeply shaken faith and trust in the Justice Department,” Trump said in an announcement.

This is a recent update. AP's earlier story follows below.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate, as director of national intelligence, continuing to fill his Cabinet with loyal figures who complement his own, quite than long-term professionals in hers respective areas of experience.

“As a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, she enjoys broad support in both parties – now she is a proud Republican!” Trump said in an announcement. “I know that Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community by standing up for our constitutional rights and ensuring peace through strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

Gabbard, who served within the Army National Guard for greater than 20 years and was stationed in Iraq and Kuwait, would tackle the role as something of an outsider in comparison with her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 after holding various top national security and intelligence positions for several years.

Gabbard has not worked directly within the intelligence community outside of House committees, including two years on the Homeland Security Committee. Like others Trump has chosen to guide his agency, she was amongst his hottest political surrogates, often drawing thunderous reactions from the gang when she campaigned on his behalf in the ultimate months of the campaign.

This is a recent update. AP's earlier story follows below.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state, fielding a former critic who has emerged as certainly one of the president-elect's fiercest defenders best diplomat within the nation.

The conservative lawmaker is a widely known hawk on China, Cuba and Iran and was among the many finalists for Trump's candidacy this summer.

On Capitol Hill, Rubio is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is pushing for a tougher stance against China and has targeted the social media app TikTok because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers argue that Beijing can demand access to users' data at any time.

“He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never give in to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in an announcement.

Trump made the announcement as he flew back to Florida from Washington after meeting with President Joe Biden.

The selection is the culmination of a protracted, complicated history between the 2 men. During their intense competition for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, Rubio was particularly outspoken in his criticism of Trump, calling him a “fraud” and “the most vulgar person to ever seek the presidency.”

He tried to counter Trump's often crude attacks by joking concerning the size of Trump's hands in a nod to his masculinity. Trump responded by branding Rubio “Little Marco,” a nickname that stuck with the senator for years.

But like many Republicans searching for to keep up their relevance within the Trump era, Rubio modified his rhetoric. As speculation grew that Trump might select him as his running mate, Rubio sought to downplay tensions from 2016, suggesting that the heated tone merely reflected the intensity of a campaign.

“That's like asking a boxer why he punched someone in the face in the third round,” Rubio told CNN when asked about his previous comments. “That’s because they boxed.”

Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 as a part of the Republican Tea Party wave that swept Washington. He quickly gained a status as someone who could embody a more diverse, welcoming Republican Party. He was a key member of a bunch that worked on a 2013 immigration law that provided a path to citizenship for thousands and thousands of individuals living within the country illegally.

But that laws stalled within the House, where more conservative Republicans were in charge, signaling the sharp rightward shift the party — and Rubio — would soon take. Now Rubio says he supports Trump's plan to make use of the US military to deport those within the country illegally.

“We have to do something, unfortunately we have to do something dramatic,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC in May.

He also repeats a lot of Trump's attacks on his opponents, in addition to his false or unproven theories about voter fraud. After Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in what New York prosecutors said was a plan to illegally influence the 2016 election, Rubio wrote in a column for Newsweek that Trump was “on trial for a political sham trial like this.” Communists are getting used against their political opponents in Cuba and the Soviet Union.”

Meanwhile, Trump has backed off his insistence as president on banning TikTok within the United States and recently opened his own account on the platform.

A bill that might require Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban within the United States was supported by Rubio, although Trump opposed the proposal.

Rubio's Democratic counterpart on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia, praised the alternative.

“I have worked with Marco Rubio on the Intelligence Committee for more than a decade, particularly closely in recent years in his role as vice chairman, and while we may not always agree, he is and will be smart and talented.” strong voice for American interests across the globe,” Warner said in an announcement.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump announced that his longtime adviser Dan Scavino would function deputy, without specifying a selected portfolio, campaign director James Blair as deputy for legislative, policy and public affairs and Taylor Budowich as deputy chief of staff for communications and human resources. All can have the rank of assistant to the president.

Trump also formally announced that Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, will turn into deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. Vice President-elect JD Vance had already confirmed this on Monday.

Blair was the political director of Trump's campaign and, after Trump became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, the political director of the Republican National Committee. He previously worked on Trump's 2020 campaign in Florida and was a top adviser to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Scavino was a senior adviser to Trump's campaign and worked as social media director during his first term within the White House.

He began working for Trump as a caddy at certainly one of Trump's golf courses and was among the many small group of staff who accompanied the president across the country throughout the campaign. He steadily posts memes and videos of Trump's campaign trips online and catalogs the campaign from the within on social media.

Before joining the campaign, Budowich worked for the pro-Trump super PAC Maga Inc., and after Trump left office, Budowich served as his spokesman while working for Trump's political motion committee, Save America.

“Dan, Stephen, James and Taylor were best-in-class advisers in my victorious campaign, and I know they will serve the American people honorably in the White House,” Trump said in an announcement. “They will continue to work hard in their respective new roles to Make America Great Again.”

Miller is certainly one of Trump's most senior advisers, having worked for the White House in his first campaign. He was a senior adviser in Trump's first term and played a central role in a lot of his policy decisions, particularly on immigration, including Trump's move in 2018 to separate 1000’s of immigrant families as a deterrence program.

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