WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the 87th attorney general of the United States, filling the nation’s top law enforcement position with a Florida lawmaker who has been under investigation by the department he would be overseeing.
The appointment comes at a critical juncture for the Justice Department, which has spent the entirety of the Trump era under attack by the president-elect, who has been charged with four federal felonies in connection with his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. That case is already winding down.
Trump made the attorney general announcement in a Truth Social post, saying Gaetz would “end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
Gaetz has been a staunch supporter of Trump, and has regularly attacked the Justice Department and 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 ended in 2023 without any charges filed. After the resolution of the investigation, Gaetz called for the abolishment of the FBI.
“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 defund, get rid of, abolish the FBI CDC, ATF,” Gaetz said in 2023 at the Conservative Political Action Conference, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Gaetz is also being investigated by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which is looking into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Gaetz told the committee in September that he is done cooperating with the panel, which he said asked him for a list of adult sexual partners over the last seven years.
In a letter to the committee and later to reporters, Gaetz blasted the investigation as “not the business of Congress.”
“They’re just nosy is what they are, and it’s none of their business,” Gaetz told NBC News at the end of September.
Trump’s announcement on Wednesday unnerved prosecutors in the DOJ as well as FBI agents. Many have been waiting in recent days to see who Trump named as his attorney general pick. Gaetz is one of the most vocal critics of both organizations, the two most powerful federal law enforcement agencies in the country.
One senior DOJ official said of Trump’s announcement, “It’s laughable,” adding that Gaetz, “shouldn’t be confirmable.”
A former senior FBI official expressed astonishment, noting the various conspiracy theories that Gaetz has spread about the bureau.
“I’m still in shock,” the person said. “I honestly don’t know what to say.”
The two sources, who asked not to be named due to fear of retaliation, said they hoped that senators would not confirm Gaetz.
“I just have to hope that there are three or four senators out there that won’t confirm,” one of the sources said.
If they do, the person predicted that Gaetz would not find the conspiracies he claims exist in the bureau.
“They’re going to realize that things aren’t as bad as they thought they were,” the person said.
The source went on to express concern for FBI agents.
“They’re hardworking people who are 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 that voters would pressure their senators to vote for him.
“The American people made clear that they want President Trump to remake Washington, and Rep. Gaetz is the perfect man to restore the DOJ to greatness,” said the source, who was granted anonymity to share internal thinking. “Senators will hear from their voters who support the congressman.”
Trump allies have called for the DOJ to criminally investigate special counsel Jack Smith and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Smith has led criminal prosecutions of Trump in two federal cases, while James won a $355 million civil verdict against Trump’s companies.
As attorney general, Gaetz would be in a strong position to determine the course of Jan. 6 riot cases.
After the riot, Gaetz claimed without evidence that it was antifa, not a pro-Trump mob that believed the former president’s lies about the 2020 election, that attacked the Capitol. One Jan. 6 rioter — one of the first men to breach the Capitol — even posted about Gaetz’s plan to challenge Electoral College votes, which Gaetz had laid out during a Turning Points USA summit in late 2020.
Another Jan. 6 defendant, Brandon Straka, has said he was “regularly” in contact with Gaetz during a Twitter Space in early 2023, as Gaetz was steering the outcome of the House Speaker’s race.
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