Matt Gaetz was Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general for eight days. The former Florida congressman’s historically short stint as a presidential candidate ended Thursday when he bowed out, claiming he no longer wanted the frenzy over the sexual misconduct allegations against him to distract from “the critical work of the Trump/Vance party.” administration.”

Gaetz has been under scrutiny for some time because he allegedly had sex with a 17-year-old girl at a party in 2017. The Justice Department investigated him on sex trafficking charges but ultimately declined to file charges. The House Ethics Committee also investigated Gaetz over the allegations and was poised to release its findings before Gaetz resigned from Congress last week. The committee’s report was reportedly damning, and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that what is publicly known about Gaetz’s alleged indiscretions is just the tip of the iceberg. CNN reported Thursday that Gaetz had abandoned his bid for attorney general, less than an hour after the network informed him that they were releasing a report on how he allegedly had multiple sexual encounters with the then-minor.

Trump’s allies seemed well aware that there was more to Gaetz than meets the eye, and worried that this could have become a problem if Gaetz took control of the American justice system.

The recent drip-drip-drip of new revelations about Gaetz’s alleged sexual activities in 2017 – along with the promise of some kind of bombshell in the unreleased ethics committee report – inspired an undercurrent across Washington, DC of banter, opposition research, and first-hand accounts from members of Congress. The rumblings, according to Republican and Democratic sources, raised concerns within the career halls of the Justice Department — as well as among some Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill and even in certain corners of Trump’s sphere of influence — that there was simply too much secret, non-public personal baggage on Gaetz’s name that could be used against him.

As one Trump adviser put it, if Gaetz had become attorney general, he would likely have been “the most blackmailable person to ever serve as attorney general of the United States… The whole job is chasing criminals.”

The concern surrounding Gaetz does not mean he has been banished from Trump’s world. The president-elect publicly praised him after withholding his name Thursday, and two sources within Trump’s inner circle say Rolling stone that they are internally pushing for Gaetz to get an easy job in the White House in the new Trump administration that does not require Senate confirmation.

There’s a chance Gaetz could return to the U.S. Capitol; he only resigned from Congress, which is currently in session, and was elected in November to represent Florida’s First District in the session that will take place in January.

But Gaetz indicated in his resignation letter that he did not plan to take the oath of office before the next Congress. He might not want that anyway, as it would mean he would once again be open to congressional scrutiny over his alleged sexual misconduct, drug use and other indiscretions. It might make more sense to leave The Hill to join the Trump administration.

Gaetz is somehow just one of many Trump administration picks linked to sexual misconduct. The media’s attention — and that of Senate Republicans as well — will now likely shift to Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host who wants Trump to run the Pentagon.

Hegseth was working on Capitol Hill Thursday to calm nerves over his near-total lack of qualifications to serve as secretary of defense, as well as a sexual assault allegation against him by a woman who told police he raped her in a building in Monterey, California. , hotel in 2017. Hegseth has denied the story, claiming the meeting was consensual.