President-elect Donald Trump has courted controversy with many of his cabinet picks, choosing divisive figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard, but his choice of former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla) as Attorney General on Wednesday has drawn possibly the most scrutiny.
“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
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Rep. Gaetz has previously called himself a “libertarian populist” and has been a staunch supporter of Trump.
Picking Gaetz, who emerged as one of Trump’s most strident defenders during his first term in the White House, drew broad approval from the former presidents base.
The Florida congressmen was instrumental in the ousting of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House in 2023, filing the motion to vacate the speakership that led to McCarthy’s removal and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.)’s assumption of the speakership.
Absent a move for recess appointments, Gaetz faces an uphill battle for confirmation in the U.S. Senate. However, he wasted no time resigning from Congress on the same day Trump nominated him for Attorney General, allowing Republicans more time to find his replacement.
Democrats quickly moved to criticize Gaetz’s nomination and suggested his rapid resignation was linked to an investigation into previous allegations. His resignation may prevent the formal release of an ethics committee report on allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl.
He has consistently denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and has never been charged with any crime.
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“Lies were Weaponized to try to destroy me. These lies resulted in prosecution, conviction, and prison. For the liars, not me. I focused on the truth and doing my job,” said Gaetz.
The Biden Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) decided last year not to charge Gaetz with any wrongdoing following a lengthy investigation into sexual misconduct allegations.
Gates’ selection angered longtime establishment Republican official John Bolton, who has served in various roles in every Republican administration since Ronald Reagan.
Bolton went on NBC to call Gaetz “the worst nomination for a cabinet position in American history.”
Bolton also went on CNN, where he compared Trump’s decision to nominate Gaetz to the famously insane Roman Emperor Caligula’s decision to appoint a horse to the high position of consul.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “shocked” to learn of Gaetz’s nomination.
“I was shocked that he has been nominated. If the nomination proceeds, I’m sure there will be an extensive background check by the FBI and public hearings and a lot of questions asked,” said Sen. Collins.
She did not say whether she would vote to confirm Gaetz, although her critical comment suggests that she is unhappy with his selection.
U.S. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) also weighed in on the decision, stating that he will review the candidates during the formal process but suggested that he believes some candidates are unqualified.
“Senator King will review and consider all nominations when the next administration formally sends them to the Senate in 2025 – though he acknowledges that some of those mentioned thus far do not appear to have the requisite background or experience for the important posts in question,” said Sen. King’s office.
Both King and Collins voted to confirm the Biden Administration’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland.
Gaetz is likely to face an extremely difficult path to confirmation.
Multiple anonymous inside sources allegedly told NBC News that the majority of Republican senators see no path for Gaetz to pass through the confirmation proceedings.
Collins has realized that no republican would ever vote for her again so she’s doing the independent shuffle hoping the dem’s will let her kiss pelosi feet along with king.
Go Matt, Go…. Make Justice Great Again.
The sexual allegations levied against Matt Gaetz were part of a smear campaign by Nancy Pelosi and democrats. Notice that NO CHARGES were ever filed! There’s a reason for that. It’s all false! Susan Collins may have run as a Republican but she’s been voting with the democrats since Obama’s second term. I used to track her voting record along with Lisa Murkowski. They mirror each other! As for Angus King, he always votes with the democrats yet he’s listed as an independent. So if you live in Maine right now you do not have any republican leadership in Washington! That’s partly due to ranked choice voting, a democrat scam to put more democrats in office.
If Dems can’t define what a woman is. How can they define what a healthy sex life should look like