Kevin McCarthy: Matt Gaetz tricked Trump into AG nomination for 'excuse' to quit Congress

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tricked President-elect Donald Trump into nominating him for attorney general so he could resign from Congress before an ethics investigation exposed alleged sex crimes.

During a Sunday interview on Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo asked McCarthy to react to Gaetz withdrawing as the nominee for attorney general after reports said that the House Ethics Committee heard testimony that the former congressman had sex with a 17-year-old girl.

"I blame Matt Gaetz for lying to the [president-elect] about his ethics report," McCarthy said.

He also claimed that Gaetz moved to oust him as Speaker because of the ethics report.

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"People know that's why he's not capable of even staying in Congress," McCarthy argued. "He needed an excuse to resign because the ethics report would be done in a couple days."

"But it's a better Congress today of where they're going forward."

Watch the video below from Fox News or at the link.