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Matt Gaetz’s future job as America’s top law enforcement officer came to an abrupt end Thursday — when a phone call from Donald Trump put the final nail in the coffin.

Eight days after his nomination as Trump’s attorney general, the former Florida lawmaker announced he was withdrawing his name from consideration after realizing he was “becoming a distraction” to the Trump-Vance transition.

The announcement came as allegations of sexual misconduct involving a 17-year-old girl and illegal drug use resurfaced and fueled doubts that he would pass the Senate nomination process.

CNN reported that just an hour before he announced he was stepping aside, the publication asked Gaetz for comment on new allegations that he had multiple sexual encounters with the underage girl.

But according to a report, the decision to step aside came during a phone conversation between Gaetz and Trump himself.

A source said The stronghold that President-elect called Gaetz just hours before his withdrawal and warned him that he did not have enough support in the Senate.

“You don’t have the votes,” Trump told Gaetz, according to the source. “These senators aren’t moving.”

According to a second source, the former Florida lawmaker admitted he was four to six Republican votes away from the required threshold.

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He could only afford to lose two Republican votes to maintain the majority in the 100-seat Supreme Chamber – while Republicans had a 53-47 majority.

The source saidThe stronghold the decision “was a mutually understood acceptance of political reality.”

“The writing was on the wall. Gaetz fell on his sword,” she added.

A source told CNN that Trump did not explicitly tell Gaetz to withdraw from the running during the Thursday morning call.

After Gaetz’s announcement, Trump turned to Truth Social to offer both his praise and condolences, writing, “He was doing very well, but at the same time he didn’t want to be a distraction to the government.”

By the end of the day, the president-elect had nominated a new attorney general: Pam Bondi, a Trump loyalist and former attorney general of Florida.

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Gaetz, who resigned from the House of Representatives last Wednesday after being appointed attorney general, has been embroiled in controversy over resurfaced allegations.

The former congressman was the target of a sex trafficking ring that was investigated by the Justice Department, the agency he sought to lead, following allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. The investigation ended without charges and Gaetz denied any wrongdoing.

The House Ethics Committee also launched a years-long investigation into the allegations.

The panel was scheduled to release its findings last week, but Gaetz’s resignation meant he was no longer under the committee’s jurisdiction. The committee met on Wednesday to discuss whether to release the report, but was deadlocked.

Initially, Trump stood by his candidate, even floating the idea of ​​recess appointments and bypassing FBI checks.

But in the end the support wasn’t there.

“While momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation unfairly became a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” he wrote Thursday.

“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted scuffle in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from serving as attorney general.”