On today’s show: Matt Gaetz, the nominee for attorney general, has been accused of sexual misconduct, including sex with a minor. He denies all wrongdoing. Washington Post congressional reporter Liz Goodwin explains everything to know about the allegations. European officials are worried about what a negotiated peace deal for the Russia-Ukraine war could look like under Trump. Laurence Norman with the Wall Street Journal has more. Texas is poised to pass a new curriculum infused with Christian lessons, renewing questions about the separation between church and state. The Texas Tribune has the story. Plus, a U.N. special committee found that Israel’s war in Gaza is “consistent” with genocide, Trump tapped Dr. Mehmet Oz to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a Republican lawmaker introduced a resolution to ban trans women from women’s bathrooms at the Capitol, and NPR reports that in the day after the election, X lost more than 115,000 users while traffic on rival platform Bluesky skyrocketed. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What are the allegations against Matt Gaetz?
Also in the documents is testimony by a second woman corroborating that story, saying she witnessed it. Gates has denied having sex with anyone underage or paying for sex.
The documents include other information, too, that's under seal with both the DOJ and the House Ethics Committee, whose members are scheduled to meet today to decide whether to release their findings ahead of a Senate confirmation hearing for Gates. Washington Post reporter Liz Goodwin spoke to us from Capitol Hill.
Republicans have been under a lot of pressure from Trump supporters and activists not to release it, given it's expected to be pretty damaging to Matt Gaetz. The committee is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, so it would take at least one Republican voting to release it for it to get out.
Whether that report comes out or not, let's recap what is publicly known about these allegations. In 2019, the federal government opened a public corruption investigation into a tax collector named Joel Greenberg.
As part of the investigation, authorities learned that he had repeatedly paid young women, at least one who was underage, to come to parties with him and his friends where they used drugs and had sex.
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Chapter 2: What is known about the investigation into Gaetz?
And Greenberg cooperated with the Justice Department in order to try to get a reduced sentence, which included, you know, saying who else was at these parties.
One of those people, he said, was Matt Gaetz. Greenberg alleged Gaetz had sex with a girl who was 17 and that Gaetz knew she was being paid. And that's kind of how he initially got dragged into this. The Justice Department spent two years investigating Gates, but never brought charges.
Chapter 3: How did Matt Gaetz become involved in the allegations?
The House Ethics Committee was also investigating him, looking into not just whether Gates had sex with an underage girl, but also other allegations like, did Gates use illegal drugs? Did he show members of Congress on the House floor nude photos of women? And did he misuse campaign funds for personal purposes?
Chapter 4: What are the implications of Gaetz's nomination as Attorney General?
Then, last week, on the same day when Trump tapped Gates to take over the DOJ, Gates resigned from the House, ending the Ethics Committee's investigation. If Gates is confirmed as AG, he'll be in charge of the department that investigated him for the possible sex trafficking of an underage girl.
Trump's been very clear he wants to make unconventional picks that are going to shake up Washington. But this one was still a big surprise just because, you know, me coming from the Hill and just knowing how Republicans feel about Matt Gaetz, I just immediately couldn't really believe it because it just he's a very hard person to get Republicans to rally around.
According to The Post, Gates has been making calls to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to shore up support, and he's saying he'll be able to clear his name during the confirmation hearings. As for how the House Ethics Committee will vote today, many Republicans, including Senator Chuck Grassley, the incoming chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, say they want to see their findings.
But Republican Senator John Cornyn said it might not matter either way. Earlier this week, he said the Judiciary Committee could decide to call the women who allege this misconduct to come and testify at Gaetz's confirmation hearing. Let's turn now to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which just passed its 1,000th day.
This week, the Biden administration announced two major changes in its policy. The first was to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range missiles. And the second was to agree to supply Ukraine with landmines. For the first time on Tuesday, Ukraine's military used those long-range ballistic missiles to strike inside Russia. Ukrainian officials say they hit an ammunition depot.
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin changed Russia's military doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, President Biden's time in office is coming to a close, and the future of U.S. support for Ukraine is uncertain, which is why the Wall Street Journal reports more European officials are looking for an off-ramp to the war.
Here's Lawrence Norman, deputy bureau chief for the journal based in Brussels.
There is clearly going to be a lot less money coming from Congress for Ukraine. Can Europe replace the amount of money and in particular the amount of military equipment that was coming from the U.S.? Probably not entirely, and that is a problem.
Another problem, in recent months, Russia has been gaining ground.
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Chapter 5: What is the current situation regarding the Russia-Ukraine war?
Norman says that dread among European leaders has somewhat eased. They saw Trump's recent meeting with Zelensky, for example, as a positive sign. But still, negotiating a peace deal will be complicated. Putin says he wants Russia to keep all the Ukrainian territory it's occupied. Zelensky says he wants that territory back.
According to recent polling in Ukraine, the majority of people agree with their president. But Putin's position appears to be gaining traction with time. About a third of Ukrainians polled — that's double the number compared to last year — said they are open to giving up territory if it means ending the war.
There's a new twist on an oldest time sticking point in our culture wars that's been bubbling up in recent months. What role should religion play in public schools? The U.S. Constitution says none, but conservative lawmakers across the country are pushing the limits of this foundational idea.
Last week in Oklahoma, for example, State Superintendent Ryan Walters mandated that all schools play a video of him announcing a new Office of Religious Liberty and Patriotism. He then invited students to pray for President-elect Trump.
I pray for our leaders to make the right decisions. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump.
We should note that students were not required to pray. Meanwhile, in Louisiana, a judge recently struck down a state law that would have required public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. The judge called it, quote, "...unconstitutional on its face."
And now, Texas, which already allows religious chaplains to be school counselors, is on the verge of taking things a step further. On Tuesday, a majority of the state's Board of Education signaled they would support a new elementary school curriculum that infuses stories from the Bible into language arts and reading lessons. They argue they can be used to teach concepts like the Golden Rule.
But as you might expect, these proposed changes are facing heavy scrutiny from some parents, activists, and lawmakers who say it risks alienating kids who aren't Christian. Here's Texas State Representative James Tallarico, a Democrat and a former public school teacher.
If you're a Muslim student, a Jewish student, a Hindu student in Texas public schools, you already stick out. And now you're going to have your teacher at the front of your classroom preaching Christianity as the one true and only religion.
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Chapter 6: How might a Trump administration affect the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Government cannot violate religious liberty by establishing a religion of secularism, by giving preference to those who believe in no religion over those who have religious beliefs.
A full vote on the new curriculum is expected on Friday. And while schools are not required to use it, the state is offering a financial incentive. About $60 per student will go to districts who choose to adopt the new standards. Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app. Starting in Gaza, where a U.N.
special committee recently released a report that found Israel's war is, quote, consistent with the characteristics of genocide. The committee said that includes, quote, intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury using starvation as a method of war. Israeli officials denied that accusation and argued inconsistent U.N.
distribution of aid is to blame for the widespread hunger in Gaza. Pope Francis, meanwhile, who has defended Israel for much of his tenure, has also come out to say Israel should be investigated for genocide. Last November, he said the conflict had, quote, gone beyond war, saying this is terrorism. Next to U.S. politics.
Yesterday, Trump nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz to oversee the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages health care for over 150 million Americans. Stat reports the heart surgeon turned TV doctor has been questioned by Congress for promoting weight loss products on his show.
And he's used his platform to spread misinformation, like saying apple juice contains dangerous levels of arsenic, which is not true. Trump also named former wrestling executive Linda McMahon to lead the education department. She served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term and co-chairs his transition team.
McMahon and her husband were also recently named in a lawsuit accusing them of being aware of sexual abuse of teenage boys working at wrestling events and failing to protect them. Her lawyer has called the allegations baseless.
Meanwhile, in Congress, Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, is proposing rules that would ban transgender women from using the women's bathrooms on Capitol Hill. She told reporters this proposal is a direct response to the election of Representative Sarah McBride, who will be the first openly trans member of Congress.
I'm absolutely 100% going to stand in the way of any man who wants to be in a women's restroom, in our locker rooms, in our changing rooms. I will be there fighting you every step of the way.
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