Trump picks Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general

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Trump picks Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general

 Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is seen outside the U.S. Capitol after the last votes before the August recess on Thursday, July 25, 2024.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will nominate *********** Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as U.S. attorney general.

Trump wrote on

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that Gaetz “has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”

Gaetz

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, “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”

The selection is the clearest example yet of how Trump, having sworn off many of his former staffers as “RINOs” or enemies of him and his MAGA agenda, is making loyalty a key qualification for his second administration.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Gaetz will succeed Attorney General Merrick Garland, who led the Justice Department as it carried out a ****-trafficking investigation into the congressman.

The DOJ ultimately declined to charge Gaetz.

Gaetz ******** the subject of an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in ******* misconduct or illicit ***** use.

Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, said in September that he would no longer voluntarily participate in that panel’s probe.

The 42-year-old lawmaker, who has carved out a reputation as a staunch and vocal Trump loyalist, has aggressively criticized the DOJ investigation and prosecution of Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.

In October 2023, Gaetz filed the original motion to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, his fellow ***********. A band of eight Republicans led by Gaetz would ultimately join with all House Democrats in removing McCarthy as speaker, plunging the GOP conference into chaos.

Gaetz was traveling with Trump, billionaire Elon Musk and others Wednesday during the president-elect’s first trip to Washington, D.C., since defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, NBC News reported.

Trump’s selection of Gaetz came as a major surprise even to his *********** colleagues on Capitol Hill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, whose projected majority had already been slimmed after Trump tapped GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York and Florida’s Mike Waltz to join his incoming administration,

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, “I don’t expect that we will have more members leaving.”

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Punchbowl News she was “shocked” by the pick.

“This is why the Senate’s advise and consent process is so important. I’m sure that there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz’s hearing,” she

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.

Asked by a

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for his reaction about the Gaetz news, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, replied, “Are you s——- me?”

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#Trump #picks #Rep #Matt #Gaetz #attorney #general

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