Former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara said Sunday that President-elect Trump “picked a bomb-thrower” to be his attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
ABC News' “This Week” showed footage of Gaetz calling for the funds to be taken away and destroyed “if they don't follow through with the FBI, CDC, ATF, Department of Justice.”
“Once again, the president can choose whoever he wants,” ABC News' Martha Raddatz said. “Voters elected Donald Trump. They know this is what he wants. So if he's confirmed, how much power will he have to do what he says? mosquito?”
“He would have enormous power, and he would be backed by a president who is himself a flamethrower, a bomb-thrower, and a bomb-thrower of choice for the job,” Bharara said. Ta.
Earlier this week, the president-elect announced that Gaetz would be nominated to head the Department of Justice.
“I am deeply honored to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida has been nominated to serve as Attorney General of the United States. Matt is a talented and tenacious lawyer trained at William & Mary Law School. “He has distinguished himself in Congress by focusing on enacting much-needed reforms at the Department of Justice,” Trump said on his social media site.
Gaetz has been one of the president-elect's strongest supporters in the House, but he has critics within the party, particularly former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), with whom he has a public feud.
“And again, [the] “The president is entitled to substantial respect, but not complete and total respect,” Bharara said on Sunday. “The United States has a Senate that is also accountable to the people and has a role to advise and consent.”
Gaetz will likely need a vote in the Senate to claim the attorney general role in a Republican-controlled state next year, but Republican senators have been reluctant to vote for him.
Gaetz, who resigned from the House shortly after the announcement, was recently the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illegal drug use, among other allegations. Although he has denied allegations of wrongdoing, Gaetz's resignation effectively removes him from the committee's jurisdiction and negates the investigation.
The Hill has reached out to Trump's transition team for comment.
