Trump Appointment of Matt Gaetz Matches His Level of Disregard for Laws and Ethics

Republicans in the Senate are not going to want to be associated with approving an attorney general without a thorough background check. I just don't think they're going to want to do that,

he said

The reasonable imprints can be drawn that Matt Gaetz promptly resigned after being reelected to Congress not because Donald Trump said he's going to give him a Cabinet appointment but because he wanted to try to block, to bury that oncoming train that is the House Ethics report about Matt Gaetz's misconduct,

Kirschner said

The department runs on career employees, people who are apolitical in work, and politics aside, if all of these people are so dismayed at the selection of the attorney general that they leave, who will carry out the functions of the department

said one Justice Department lawyer, who is planning to leave the government

Lisa Murkowskisenator

I don't think it's a serious nomination for the attorney general. We need to have a serious attorney general. And I'm looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious."

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski has already expressed skepticism about the selection of Gaetz, commenting

Kaitlan CollinscNN anchor

It's up to Congress whether they release that report. There's nothing particularly privileged about the report; it's just a matter of what they want to do."

Speaking to CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Friday, Honig, also a former assistant U.S. attorney, said

Whether or not that document, the actual House Ethics report, gets released, the facts that are contained therein are open game as we're seeing now with this new reporting. People who were interviewed, witnesses, lawyers, they're free to come forward, and if Matt Gaetz's nomination moves forward, I don't know about all of this, but a lot of this could come out and it's going to cause him problems upon problems."

Honig added

Merrick Garlandattorney General

I should say one thing about the denial from Gaetz's attorney that you showed, it is true the DOJ chose not to charge him but the attorney used the word 'cleared;

Honig said ... he said Merrick Garland cleared Matt Gaetz

Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice."

In a statement, he said

Jamie Raskinrepresentative

I don’t think, in the final analysis, that members of Congress are going to surrender our essential constitutional functions,

Raskin said

He wants what he wants, and he’s not going to allow the Constitution to stand in the way,

Raskin told HuffPost

Ty Cobbhero

Both the Gaetz appointment and the RFK appointment are sort of as a ‘fuck you’ to America,

said Ty Cobb, a lawyer in Trump’s White House during his first term who, like many others who had worked for Trump, now see him as a threat to democracy

President Trump doesn’t fold to pressure or make decisions lightly. He stands by the people he trusts, and I’ve seen firsthand that he picks leaders who will deliver for America. The American people voted for change, and that’s exactly what’s coming,

Habba wrote in a social media post

I don’t even know what the difference is, what you just described. They both sound like the same thing,

Pelosi said

He’s being completely nihilistic at this point,

Conway said

Matt Gaetzrepresentative

Your correspondence of September 4 asks whether I have engaged in sexual activity with any individual under 18. The answer to this question is unequivocally NO. You can apply this response to every version of this question, in every forum,

Gaetz said in a statement posted to his social media account

We need a fighter in leadership, and that’s why I’m backing Matt Gaetz for Attorney General,

Evans wrote

Trump needs to fix what is already in shambles,

Nicole Reffitt said

Saving this for when the full extent of the federal government’s role in J6 is exposed.”

Gaetz later posted a screenshot of a television chyron calling the Epps conspiracy theory “baseless,” writing

More than 700 people have been sentenced in this courthouse for their role in January 6th. Not one is a member of Antifa or a FBI agent.”

Epps was charged in 2023 with misdemeanors and sentenced to probation, with the judge in his case noting

Not quite there, but it’s still salvageable

said one sleuth who has aided the FBI investigation