Never before has there been something in Washington that unites Republicans and their Democratic Party colleagues in disbelief as the nomination of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for the position of Attorney General.
Following a string of high-profile nominations on Wednesday, such as Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, the Gaetz nomination is perhaps the most head-scratching for some while others are cheering him on with sheer exuberance.
According to reports, the Gaetz nomination was a “shockwave” throughout the Beltway class:
Donald Trump’s nomination of Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general has arrived like a thunderclap in Washington.
Of all the president-elect’s picks for his administration so far, this is easily the most controversial – and sends a clear message that Trump intends to shake up the establishment when he returns to power.
The shockwaves were still being felt on Thursday morning as focus shifted to a looming fight in the Senate over his nomination.
Trump is assembling his team before he begins his term on 20 January, and his choice of defence secretary, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, and intelligence chief, former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, have also raised eyebrows.
But it is the firebrand Florida politician Gaetz making most headlines. He is perhaps best known for spearheading the effort to unseat then-Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy last year. But he has a consistent history of being a flamethrower in the staid halls of Congress.
In many ways, good. The establishment needs to be “shocked” one way or another. The people spoke last week and elections have consequences.
Gaetz is a flamethrower but he’s Trump’s flamethrower. He’s also spent hours and hours of time on cable news defending Trump from the various false allegations and witchhunts Democrats have conducted since 2016.
In other words, Gaetz has been one of the most loyal subjects to Trump for years now and he’s never waivered in that support. This has earned a loyal MAGA following even though he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
The pick is not without baggage, of course. Gaetz is still facing an investigation from the House Ethics Committee which, as of today, will be halted due to his resignation from the chamber effective on Wednesday:
Earlier Wednesday, after news broke that Gaetz was chosen for the Trump Cabinet, House Ethics Committee Chair Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters that their investigation, which had reportedly centered around allegations Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor and illicit drug use, would end if Gaetz were to step down from Congress.
Gaetz has denied those misconduct allegations.
“This changes nothing,” Guest said in the Capitol, referring to Gaetz’ nomination.
“I’ve been asked, ‘Does this call us to expedite our investigation?’ Once the investigation is complete, then a report will be issued,” Guest said. “Assuming that at that time, that Mr. Gaetz is still a member of Congress. If Mr. Gaetz were to resign because he is taking a position, with the administration, as the attorney general, then the Ethics Committee loses jurisdiction at that point. Once we lose jurisdiction, there would not be a report that would be issued that’s not unique to this case.”
With his immediate resignation that followed the Attorney General nomination, Gaetz has saved himself some damage control if the ethics investigation came up with anything damning. At this point, we’ll never know what they were about to release unless something is leaked which is always possible.
Defenders of Gaetz claim the ethics investigation, which resulted from allegations that Gaetz attended a sex party with an underage girl in 2017, is merely a witchhunt against an effective Trump surrogate. According to Sean Davis writing on X, Gaetz was being extorted:
The FBI and DOJ previously tried to frame Matt Gaetz with the help of a con artist who was trying to extort Gaetz’s family out of tens of millions of dollars. I can’t think of a more perfect choice to tear the most corrupt agency on earth down to the studs.
Furthermore, as Mollie Hemingway would write, Gaetz was one of the most prolific and effective TV guests defending Donald Trump and the Justice Department basically took him off the air and made it difficult for colleagues to defend him:
Gaetz was a frequent fixture on television, reportedly averaging 87 minutes a month on air during the 12 months prior to the end of March 2021. He was even considering leaving Congress to take a job as a cable news host.
Then on March 30, 2021, all that changed with the publication of an anonymously sourced report accusing him of possibly being a child sex trafficker.
A group of New York Times reporters who won awards for their roles pushing the Russia collusion lie penned an anonymously sourced article with a devastating headline: “Matt Gaetz Is Said to Face Justice Dept. Inquiry Over Sex With an Underage Girl.” The story was sourced to “three people briefed on the matter,” none of them identified in any way. The story contained no evidence against Gaetz of sex crimes, but much guilt-by-association. Late in the story, the pack of reporters admitted that no charges had been filed and that the “extent of his criminal exposure is unclear.”
The damage to Gaetz’s reputation was done and that’s all that mattered. In the end, federal prosecutors never charged him:
On Friday, 18 months after he was accused of being a pedophile and child sex trafficker, the Washington Post published another anonymously sourced report. “Career prosecutors recommend no charges for Matt Gaetz,” said the article, published quietly on a Friday. Not only was he never convicted of any of the crimes he was alleged to have committed, he wasn’t even charged. And, if you believe the anonymously sourced claims, he isn’t going to be.
Whether he violated House ethics rules or committed a criminal act may be less impactful than the general view of Gaetz held by some of his colleagues. He’s known in the House as being a pain to work with and many of them would be happy to see him sent packing to the Department of Justice.
Almost hilariously, Gaetz could wind up with a promotion one way or another, either as the new Attorney General or possibly in the United States Senate thanks to Marco Rubio’s impending departure:
With Gaetz having resigned his seat in the House, if the Senate tries to reject his AG confirmation, DeSantis can always appoint Gaetz to fill Rubio’s Senate seat. Would be interesting to see senators have to choose between Gaetz as AG or as their colleague for years to come.
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 14, 2024
According to further reporting from Bob Costa at CBS News, Senate Republicans might be throwing in the towel before the battle even starts:
What I’m hearing privately from a few key GOP senators: yes, they’d prefer to not have a messy fight over Gaetz. Not their favorite. But they also don’t have a lot of energy for pushing back. Trump runs the show, they say. If Gaetz can reassure them, they’re open to backing him.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) November 14, 2024
The GOP is certainly Trump’s show and the election last week cemented that for the foreseeable future. At the moment, fresh off a resounding victory, Trump is wasting no time pushing forward the people he believes can help root out corruption, halt the deep state rot, and bring the federal leviathan under control.
Even Lindsey Graham, no defender of Gaetz under normal circumstances, says to give him a chance to sink or swim during confirmation:
“So, we’re going to give the president a chance to put his people forward. To every Republican, give Matt a chance,” Graham said Wednesday on Fox News’s “Hannity.”
“I say elections have consequences when Republicans don’t like it, and I’m telling my Democratic friends, elections have consequences whether you like it or not,” Graham told host Sean Hannity in the interview highlighted by Mediaite.
The joke circulating is that once Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy start cutting government waste and trimming departments, there won’t be anything left to do over at Justice since half the entrenched establishment staff will already resign if Gaetz is appointed. Problem solved.
Gaetz may or may not make it through Senate confirmation but it’ll damn sure be a fun show to watch.
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