WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump Rep. Matt Gaetz was elected Becoming the 87th U.S. attorney general will fill the nation’s top law enforcement post with a Florida lawmaker under investigation by the department he oversees.
It comes at a critical moment for the appointment Department of JusticeTrump has spent the entire term under attack from the president-elect, who has been charged with four federal felonies in connection with his efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss. This is the case is already fading.
Trump announced this to the attorney general Truth Social writingGaetz said he will “end the Armed Government, secure our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly damaged Faith and Confidence in the Department of Justice.”
Gaetz has been a staunch Trump supporter and regularly attacked the Justice Department and the FBI, both of which he would oversee as attorney general if confirmed by the Republican-led Senate.
The DOJ and FBI investigated Gaetz for possible sex trafficking, but the case expired in 2023 with no payment given. After the investigation was resolved, Gaetz called for the FBI to be disbanded.
“I don’t care if it takes every second of our time and every ounce of our energy, we either get this government back on our side or we abolish, get rid of, abolish the FBI CDC, ATF,” Gaetz said. He said in 2023 At the Conservative Political Action Conference, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gaetz is also under investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which is investigating whether he engaged in sexual exploitation and illegal drug use. Gaetz told the committee in September that he had asked her for a list of adult sexual partners over the past seven years.
In a letter to the committee and later to reporters, Gaetz dismissed the investigation as “not the business of Congress.”
“They’re just eager and it’s none of their business,” Gaetz told NBC News in late September.
Trump’s announcement on Wednesday angered prosecutors at the DOJ and FBI agents. Many have been anticipating who Trump will name as attorney general in recent days. Gaetz is one of the fiercest critics of both organizations, the nation’s two most powerful federal law enforcement agencies.
A senior DOJ official said of Trump’s statement, “It’s ridiculous,” and Gaetz said it was “unconfirmable.”
A former senior FBI official expressed astonishment at Gaetz’s various conspiracy theories about the bureau.
“I’m still in shock,” the person said. “Honestly, I don’t know what to say.”
The two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said they hoped the senators would not confirm Gaetz.
“I just have to hope there’s three or four senators out there who won’t confirm them,” one of the sources said.
If they do, the person predicted, they won’t find the conspiracies that Gaetz claims exist in the bureau.
“They will realize that things are not as bad as they thought,” he said.
The source later expressed concern about the FBI agents.
“They are hardworking people trying to do the right thing.”
Asked about the likelihood of Gaetz making it through the Senate confirmation process, a source close to Trump predicted voters would pressure their senators to vote for him.
“The American people have made it clear that they want President Trump to rebuild Washington, and Rep. Gaetz is the perfect person to return the DOJ to greatness,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share his internal thoughts. “Senators will hear from constituents who support the congressman.”
Trump’s allies have called on the DOJ to conduct a criminal investigation special counsel Jack Smith and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Smith led the criminal prosecution of Trump in two federal cases, while James won a $355 million civil judgment against Trump companies.
As attorney general, Gaetz would be in a strong position to determine the course of the January 6 riots.
Gaetz after the uprising claimed without evidence It was antifa, not pro-Trump they believed the lies of the former president About the 2020 election storming the Capitol. On Jan. 6, one protester — one of the first to breach the Capitol — even reported on Gaetz’s plan to challenge the Electoral College votes he unveiled during the U.S. Tipping Points summit in late 2020.
On Jan. 6, another defendant, Brandon Straka, said he was in “regular” contact with Gaetz on Twitter in early 2023, when Gaetz was managing the results of his House Speaker race.