[Anchor]
Former Congressman Matt Gates, who has been at the center of controversy over alleged youth sex purchases, resigned eight days after he was named justice minister.
Trump said he didn't want to get in the way of the administration, but the appointment, which had been carried out as a close aide, was also inevitable.
This is Washington correspondent Hong Sang-hee.
[Reporter]
Former Congressman Matt Gates, who has sparked controversy since his nomination as attorney general, eventually resigned after eight days.
Gates said on social media X that his confirmation was hampering Trump's takeover and that he would withdraw his name from the list of attorneys general.
He added that there is no time to waste on unnecessary Washington political scuffles, and that Trump's Justice Department should be ready from day one in office.
Along with allegations of a 17-year-old teenager's sex purchase in 2017, the House investigation recently found that Gates sent money to two women 27 times.
[Joel Lefford / Female sex attorney] What I testified to in the House is that Gates paid my client, the women, for sex from the summer of 2017 to early 2019.]
Although he was not charged with lack of evidence in the FBI investigation at the time, not only Democrats but also Republicans expressed opposition, and controversy continued over whether the House Ethics Committee would disclose the investigation.
[Max Miller / U.S. Republican Congressman: As a congressman, he (Matt Gates) should not be the most powerful law enforcement agency in the country, and everyone knows he won't get confirmation.]
He met with Republican senators with Vice President-elect Vance to persuade them, but he seems to have decided that confirmation is not easy.
Trump said on Truth Social that Gates didn't want to get in the way of the administration he respected.
The Gates nomination is over, but it's not the end of the controversy.
Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host who was nominated to secretary of defense, has seen his repercussions spread after he was found to have sexually assaulted a woman at a Republican event in 2017 and paid her money in exchange for being closed to the public.
Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was also suspected of sexually harassing a babysitter more than 20 years ago.
There is also criticism that the impromptu appointment of a close aide immediately after the presidential election will inevitably cause side effects.
The resignation of Gates has also hurt Trump's nomination.
As controversy over the ineligibility of other nominees spreads, labor pains in the confirmation process are expected to be inevitable.
I'm Hong Sang-hee from Washington.
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