Gaetz withdrew nomination minutes after being told CNN planned to air damning new claim

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly withdrew his nomination to be President-elect Donald Trump's next attorney general just minutes after CNN asked him about reports of a second sexual encounter with a 17-year-old girl.

Moments after Gaetz announced on X that he was withdrawing his nomination, CNN's Paula Reid noted the network had informed him it was going to report that the House Ethics Committee had heard allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl at least two times.

"Gaetz withdrew from AG nomination 45 mins after we called to say we were going to report that 'Ethics committee told there was a *second* sexual encounter between Gaetz and 17 year old in 2017,'" Reid explained.

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According to CNN, the woman, who was 17 at the time of the encounter, told the Ethics Committee that she had sex with Gaetz and another adult woman. The woman said she had also testified about both sexual encounters as part of a lawsuit, CNN said.

For his part, Gaetz has denied having sex with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz recently resigned from Congress before the Ethics Committee could release a report on the lawmaker.