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The Latest: Republicans take House as Democrats sound alarm over Matt Gaetz as attorney general

  • The Associated Press

  • Canadian Press

  • November 14, 2024

FILE - The speaker's dais is seen in the House of Representatives of the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 28, 2022. In the 2024 elections, Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party's sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party's sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump's pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin saying Gaetz "would be a disaster" in part because of Trump's threat to use the Justice Department "to seek revenge on his political enemies."

Follow the AP's Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the latest:

Sen. Dick Durban says ethics committee should preserve information gathered on Matt Gaetz

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is calling on the House Ethics Committee to preserve information it's gathered on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's intended nominee for attorney general, and also share it with the Senate.

Trump announced Gaetz as his pick for the post Wednesday and Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress, ending the investigation against him. The ethics panel said several months ago that its review included whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations before the committee.

"The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz's resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report," Durbin said Thursday. "We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people."

Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa's close congressional race as GOP wins control of House

The Democrat looking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a close Iowa congressional race, one of a handful yet to be called after Republicans won control of the U.S. House, has asked for a recount.

Democrat Christina Bohannan's campaign on Thursday requested the recount in her bid against Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to represent Iowa's 1st District. The initial tally puts Bohannan fewer than 1,000 votes -- less than a percentage point -- behind Miller-Meeks.

The contest is a much tighter rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. Miller-Meeks earned a first term in Congress representing Iowa's 2nd District when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.