Former Trump nominee Gaetz says he won't return to Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz said he will not return to Congress next year, according to an interview aired on Friday, a day after President-elect Donald Trump's initial nominee to lead the Department of Justice withdrew amid sex and drug allegations.

"I'm still going to be in the fight but it's going to be a from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress," Gaetz, a Florida Republican who had won another term in Congress, said in an interview with right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The embattled congressman on Thursday withdrew from consideration to be Trump's U.S. Attorney General amid allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl and illicit drug use. He has denied wrongdoing.

Gaetz had resigned from Congress when he was nominated by Trump last week for the nation's top law enforcement role and said he did not intend to take up his newly won seat in the next session.

His resignation also came amid the House of Representatives Ethics Committee's investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct. The panel deadlocked along party lines on Wednesday over whether to release its findings.

Gaetz is the first cabinet-level nominee tapped to serve in Trump's upcoming administration to withdraw, though several have faced scrutiny over past behavior. Another Trump nominee, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, who was tapped as defense secretary, has also been engulfed in controversy for alleged sexual misconduct.

Trump moved to nominate former Florida Attorney General and loyalist Pam Bondi following Gaetz's withdrawal.

Gaetz praised Bondi's nomination and maintained he was the victim of an alleged Washington "smear" campaign in the interview, according to CNN.

"I’m going to be fighting for President Trump. I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have," Gaetz said in the interview. "But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress."

(Reporting by Moira Warburton; writing by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)