Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trump's various Justice Department nominees, including Gaetz and his personal attorneys, show the president-elect's intention to "weaponize" the Justice Department in order to "seek vengeance."

"Donald Trump viewed the Justice Department as his personal law firm during his first term, and these selections -- his personal attorneys -- are poised to do his bidding," Durbin said in a statement.

"The American people deserve a Justice Department that fights for equal justice under the law. This isn't it," the statement continued.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, was part of an investigation into alleged sexual assault in 2017, officials in Monterey, California, said in a statement overnight. Trump’s transition team was made aware of the incident earlier this week, after Trump announced him as his choice, a source told ABC News.

Monterey city officials said in their press statement that police investigated a "sexual assault" that allegedly occurred in the early morning hours of Oct. 8, 2017, at a Hyatt Regency. The incident did not involve a weapon, but the victim allegedly suffered "contusions to right thigh."

Hegseth is not identified in the city's statement as the alleged assailant. The victim’s name and age are listed as "confidential."

A police report was filed days later, on Oct. 12. It was not immediately clear whether any charges were filed. A Monterey Superior Court spokesperson told ABC News on Thursday they had no records on file with Hegseth’s name as a party.

Tim Parlatore, an attorney for Hegseth, told ABC News. "This incident was fully investigated and Mr. Hegseth was cleared of any wrongdoing. It should have no effect on the confirmation process."

Monterey officials said the statement came in response to "numerous inquiries" from the media, including ABC News, and they would not be making "any other remarks related to this inquiry."

ABC News has reached out to the Trump transition for comment.

-ABC News' Lucien Bruggeman

Vice President-elect JD Vance has already been working the phones reaching out to senators trying to gauge support for Matt Gaetz -- who Trump named for the attorney general role, according to three sources with knowledge of the calls.

Matt Gaetz has also been making calls to senators, sources said.

The calls from Vance underscore ABC News' reporting that he is expected to be the "eyes and ears" for Trump in Congress.

Also, the House Ethics Committee, which sources said was preparing to meet this week to deliberate over whether to release a final report on Gaetz -- is not expected to meet Friday, per two sources.

-ABC News' Rachel Scott

After wishing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. congratulations for his nomination as health secretary, former Democratic presidential candidate and progressive Marianne Williamson told ABC News the Democratic Party has a "profound lack of understanding of people’s health concerns."

"I agreed with and campaigned on a lot of things Bobby Kennedy has to say, just as I have disagreed with other things," Williamson said.

"But I recognized the malicious way the system sought to remove him from the conversation, due to a problem not within him but within it," she added.

Williamson said that she suggested the Democratic Party "announce its own root cause food and health platform as an alternative" after Kennedy endorsed Trump.

"I offered the policies I had developed during my own campaign. Their disinterest displayed a profound lack of understanding of people’s health concerns, and how proactively creating health is a critically needed complement to treating the symptoms of sickness," Williamson said.