Matt Gaetz Says He's Withdrawing From Trump's Attorney General Nomination

It's back to the drawing board for President-elect Donald Trump ... he's got to nominate someone else for U.S. Attorney General after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name today.

The former Congressman from Florida just announced on X he is pulling out of consideration to become Trump's AG.

Gaetz says ... "While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."

The move comes the day after Gaetz says he met with a group of senators, who he says offered "thoughtful feedback."

Gaetz faced obstacles to his confirmation ... he's been dogged by sexual misconduct allegations, including claims he allegedly paid women for sex and had sex with a minor.

For his part, Gaetz has denied the allegations and he has not been criminally charged, as the Justice Department decided against doing so.

A Congressional Ethics Committee report was scheduled to be released this month, but Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him for AG ... and now it's unclear if the report will be released.

Despite passing on the opportunity to join Trump's cabinet, Gaetz says ... "I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history. I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."