President-elect Trump's nomination of former Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general has come under increasing criticism, following nearly four years of actions by the Biden administration's Justice Department that drew fierce criticism from conservatives.
President Trump nominated Gates as his attorney general nominee last Wednesday, a decision that came as a surprise to conservatives and liberals alike. Democrats have particularly criticized this choice, citing the House Ethics Committee's investigation into Gates' allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. Gaetz has long denied wrongdoing, and the Trump transition team said it was confident the Senate would confirm him.
“I know Matt personally. He's a great guy. He's an honest guy. He's also a great litigator. He served on the House Judiciary Committee for eight years. These hearings “Anyone who has seen him at the convention knows that he is an incredibly impressive person,” said Caroline, the transition team's press secretary and President Trump's recently announced nominee for press secretary. Leavitt said on Fox News last week.
“Like President Trump, Matt Gaetz is a victim of the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and one of the promises President Trump made to the American people was to root out corruption in the Department of Justice. We've seen this Justice Department turn against the American people, because Matt Gaetz and President Trump are going to end it, and that's what the American people want, so they elected him. “I did,” Levitt added.
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President-elect Trump and attorney general candidate Matt Gaetz (Getty Images)
The Biden administration's Justice Department, led by Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been repeatedly criticized for a series of actions seen as targeting conservatives.
In 2021, the Justice Department ordered Director Garland to order the FBI to use counterterrorism tools in connection with comments made by parents at school board meetings opposing transgender issues and critical race theory curriculum. The school released a memo giving instructions, which was heavily criticized by parents across the country. The memorandum comes as the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sent a letter to President Biden to investigate parents protesting at school board meetings, alleging that school officials are being threatened at school board meetings. This is in response to a request to the federal government to do so.
The NSBA called for the parents' actions to be investigated under the Patriot Act as “domestic terrorists,” which led Garland to write a memo that did not use the term “domestic terrorists.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a press conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, September 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
“After investigating local law enforcement agencies, U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country have determined that the Attorney General’s direction to utilize federal law enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats is justified by law.” “There was no basis for the execution,'' the House of Commons Judiciary Committee said in its interim report on the memo last year.
Garland testified in front of the Senate last year that the memo was “intended to incite violence and threats of violence against numerous school personnel,” and that the memo was not the result of a parent “filing a complaint to the school board.” , the memo sparked a storm of criticism from parents. , nevertheless.
“The FBI, the nation's highest law enforcement agency, was used by the Department of Justice as a weapon against parents who dared to raise concerns at the most local level: the school board,” said Tiffany, founder of Mamas for Liberty. Justice said. FOX News Digital last year.
Other parents jokingly asked on social media whether he looked like a “domestic terrorist,” while others chanted “arrest him” online in protest of the liberal school policy.
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In 2022, the Biden Justice Department came under fire again for allegedly unfairly targeting devout Catholics when the FBI arrested a Pennsylvania father who frequently prayed outside an abortion clinic.
Mark Hock, a Catholic father of seven who often prayed outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, was arrested by the FBI at his home in rural Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. The arrest stemmed from an altercation he had with a Planned Parenthood attendant in Philadelphia in October 2021. Mr. Houk is accused of shoving an attendant at an abortion clinic, who allegedly verbally harassed Mr. Houk's 12-year-old son outside the clinic.
The Biden administration alleges that Houk violated the Freedom of Admissions to Clinics Act (FACE), which prohibits the use of force with the intent to harm, intimidate, or impede a person providing reproductive health care. It is a federal crime to do so.
Mr Houck was acquitted by a jury last year after claiming he was protecting his son. He and his wife, Ryan Murray, filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department earlier this year alleging that the FBI used excessive force during their arrest, alleging the arrest was the result of an “incomplete and malicious investigation.” I woke you up.
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President Biden speaks at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
After Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which overhauled its election laws, including limiting where ballot drop boxes can be placed and requiring absentee voters to provide identification such as a driver's license. , the Justice Department came under fire for suing the state. Or, if you are requesting an absentee ballot, the last four digits of your social security number.
Biden, along with Democrats from across the country and Hollywood actors who frequently film in the Peach State, criticized election laws, with the 46th president calling them “Jim Crow 2.0.”
“This is Jim Crow in the 21st century, and it has to end. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act,” Biden said in March 2021.
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“This law, like many others pushed by Republicans in statehouses across the country, is a blatant attack on the Constitution and conscience. Among the outrageous parts of this new state law are workers' It would close polls hours early so that people could not vote, restrict voting after work hours, and impose strict restrictions on absentee voting, effectively denying millions of voters the right to vote. ” Biden added.
In a press release at the time, the Justice Department said it filed a lawsuit against the state, arguing that some of the laws were “for the purpose of denying or depriving voters of the right to vote on the basis of race.”
People line up at a mobile voting site at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Atlanta on October 12, 2020. (Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via AP)
“The right to vote for all eligible citizens is a central pillar of our democracy and the right from which all other rights ultimately flow,” Garland said in a statement at the time. . “This lawsuit highlights the many steps we are taking to ensure all eligible voters can vote, all legal votes are counted, and all voters have access to accurate information. This is the first step.”
Conservatives called out the Biden administration and Democrats in the wake of the 2022 election cycle, which reported record early voting numbers, after Democrats claimed the law would prevent some voters from voting. It was criticized as “inciting fear.''
While running for re-election, Trump was also juggling several lawsuits leading up to Nov. 5, including the charges filed against him by special counsel Jack Smith. Garland appointed Smith as special counsel, and Trump's lawyers argued that the AG “violated the Appointments Clause by appointing Smith, a private citizen, to target President Trump.”
Smith prosecuted Trump in Washington, D.C., on charges of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and filed federal charges against the former president in Florida over his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. The judge overseeing the Florida case dismissed the case over the summer, but Smith quickly filed an appeal.
But in the wake of Trump's landslide victory this month, Smith began scaling back the case because Justice Department policy prohibits criminal charges against a sitting president.
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Special Counsel Jack Smith addressed reporters after a grand jury handed down additional indictments against former President Trump. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Democrats have criticized President Trump's nomination of Gaetz for attorney general following controversy within the Justice Department under the Biden administration. Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives following Trump's announcement, but he still needs Senate confirmation to officially become attorney general in the second Trump administration.
“President Trump's recent nominees, Gaetz, Hegseth, and Gabbard, are far less qualified than Bork, Tower, and Maia, who were denied confirmation by the Senate.” [sic]'' said Lawrence Summers, a professor at Harvard University who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Posted in Xmentioned Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork and Harriet Myers, and Secretary of Defense nominee John Tower. “I look forward to the Senate fulfilling its responsibility.”
“This is going to be a very dangerous moment for American democracy. Matt Gaetz was nominated for one reason only: to support Donald Trump's transition of the Department of Justice and to represent all of us. “It moves the Department of Justice from a government agency to simply an arm of the White House designed to persecute and prosecute President Trump's political opponents,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. I mentioned it last week.
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Congressman Matt Gaetz at the Capitol in Washington, DC, ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. (Aaron Schwartz/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“It's like God-level vandalism just to cause a meltdown,” said Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania. “But the truth is, the Democratic opinion on Gaetz isn't really interesting. The better opinions will come from my colleagues on the other side. republican partyabout how they can justify voting that j— off. ”
Some Republicans also reject this option, predicting that Gates will not make it through the confirmation process, but conservatives such as Fox News' Mark Levin and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin suppressed such criticism.
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President-elect Trump gestures during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“The Democratic Party has nominated and endorsed Tim Walz for vice president. I don't want to hear from that party or its media that any candidate Trump is unqualified for the post. “Even when choosing a running mate, it's very important that all of Trump's nominees have a proven track record,” Levin said. Posted last week on X.
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johnson held up a photo When asked last week about Gaetz's selection, he asked Rachel Levine, assistant secretary of health, and former Energy Department official Sam Brinton: “Have you asked any Democratic senators about this?” Levine is the first openly transgender person in the Senate, while Brinton, who identifies as non-binary, was arrested for baggage theft at the airport before leaving the DOE. He has been arrested.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller, Gabriel Hays and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.
