Several Christian anti-trafficking organizations are publicly opposing President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for US attorney general, former Republican representative Matt Gaetz of Florida.
Gaetz resigned his congressional seat last week after the nomination announcement, just days before the House Ethics Committee planned to release its investigation into accusations the lawmaker had sex with a minor. He was also investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for sex trafficking, though the DOJ did not pursue charges.
If he wins Senate confirmation, Gaetz would lead the main law enforcement agency that prosecutes sex trafficking. The DOJ is in the middle of prosecuting high-profile trafficking cases like that of Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Trump, in his statement announcing Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, said Gaetz would “root out the systemic corruption at DOJ.”
Shared Hope International, a Christian anti-trafficking organization founded by Republican congresswoman Linda Smith in 1998, stated that Gaetz should not be confirmed until the House Ethics Committee could clear him of sex-trafficking allegations.
“The office of attorney general requires the highest ethical conduct and public trust,” said Smith, who serves as CEO. Shared Hope also signed a letter organized by anti-trafficking group World Without Exploitation which will be sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee from dozens of anti-trafficking organizations opposing Gaetz’s confirmation. More groups are still signing onto the letter.
The signers included faith-based anti-trafficking groups like Exodus Cry, Imago Dei Fund, Sacred Beginnings, and The Genesis Project, as well as a cornucopia of others—from more liberal feminist groups like National Organization for Women to a motorcycle group (Ride My Road) that raises money to fight trafficking.
“The nomination of Mr. Gaetz sends a signal to the country and the world that sexual misconduct and exploitation and corrupt behavior will not only go unpunished, but will be rewarded,” the groups wrote. “It is a signal to sex traffickers around the United States to continue exploiting the most vulnerable for their own profit with no consequences.”
The groups also urged senators to block a recess appointment.
“The United States needs an attorney general who stands for justice, ethics, and protection of survivors,” the letter continued.
The House ethics investigation reportedly includes testimony from a woman that Gaetz had sex with her when she was 17 years old. Now House Speaker Mike Johnson says the report should not be released because Gaetz is no longer a member of the House.
“That would be a terrible precedent to set,” Johnson said.
Gaetz has denied that he had sex with anyone under the age of 18 and has characterized the investigation as a “plot” against him.
The DOJ did not pursue trafficking charges against Gaetz, but Gaetz’s one-time associate Joel Greenberg pleaded guilty to federal sex-trafficking charges and is serving an 11-year sentence. Gaetz is accused of being at an Orlando party where trafficking took place and of having sex with a minor there.
Gaetz is a member of a Southern Baptist church, First Baptist Church of Fort Walton Beach.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) was founded by Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders, and has become a pacesetter in the fight against exploitation through pornography. It also issued a statement opposing Gaetz’s confirmation “unless he is fully cleared of all allegations of sexual misconduct, including allegations of sex trafficking of a minor and participation in prostitution.”
NCOSE CEO Dawn Hawkins said that the allegations were “serious” and “credible” and that Gaetz’s resignation from Congress should not prevent the release of the House investigation. She added that if the House would not release its investigation, the Senate should conduct its own report.
The board chairman of NCOSE Ronald DeHaas is the CEO of Covenant Eyes, a porn-monitoring app, and an elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Former FBI agent Suzanne Lewis-Johnson is a Christian who worked on federal child-trafficking cases. She told CT she knew from personal experience the power of the attorney general to decide what cases agents investigate and what cases are prosecuted.
“Putting someone purportedly involved in trafficking in the one position in the country with the most influence over both which cases make it to the courtroom and how federal dollars flow to local communities … poses a danger to those efforts and to vulnerable people’s very lives,” Lewis-Johnson said.
Robert George, a conservative Catholic legal scholar at Princeton University, is on the board of NCOSE and agreed that there should be no confirmation “until a full and transparent investigation is conducted into his possible role in the exploitation of young women and girls at the ‘sex parties’ he has admitted to attending.” Gaetz has denied attending the particular sex party in question.
Another conservative Christian group, Liberty Counsel, released a statement opposing Gaetz. The organization, based in Florida, where Gaetz was a congressman and state lawmaker, said in a statement that Gaetz is “neither morally nor professionally qualified to become the United States Attorney General.” Liberty Counsel noted that aside from the “serious allegations” of sex parties and drug use, Gaetz had given a speech to conservative Christian leaders “laced with sexual innuendo.”
“This is not the character of the nation’s highest law enforcement officer who is entrusted to uphold the rule of law and prosecute sex traffickers and sex crimes,” Liberty Counsel stated.
Three of the men Trump has said he intends to nominate for his cabinet have been accused of sexual assault: Gaetz, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Pete Hegseth. Billionaire Elon Musk, who has become a close confidante to Trump in the transition process, has also been accused of sexual harassment and other misconduct.
“Dear survivors: I’m grieved that you have to see a steady stream of sexual abusers put forth as leaders of our nation,” wrote Southern Baptist pastor Chris Davis, an abuse survivor, in a post on Bluesky. “You deserve better.”
In his 2020 book Firebrand, Gaetz wrote in a chapter titled “Sex and Money,” that “getting paid and getting laid … aren’t inherently bad things.”
“We’ve got a president now who doesn’t care for puritanical grandstanding or moralistic preening,” Gaetz wrote about Trump. “I have an active social life, and it’s probably easier in the era of Trump. We’ve had ‘perfect family man’ presidents before, after all, and many of those men sold out our country, even if their wives were happy the whole time. If politicians’ family lives aren’t what really matter to the voters, maybe that’s a good thing. I’m a representative, not a monk.”
This article has been corrected to reflect that NCOSE had an interfaith founding.
