With former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) declining his nomination, President-elect Trump is back to square one in securing an attorney general to lead the agency he views as key to his retaliation plan.
Turning to Gaetz, Trump offered a vision of a “weaponized” Justice Department against the president-elect in the form of classified documents and federal indictments related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Nominated passionate supporters to share.
But just eight days after surprising Washington by announcing that he would nominate a Florida Republican to be the nation's top law enforcement official, President Trump backtracked on his list of potential nominees and announced that the Recalculating certain limits.
“There is zero chance that President Trump would approve of an attorney general who does not have full loyalty to President Trump, both personally and policy-wise. It’s undecided,” said the former George W. Bush administration official turned lobbyist.
Gates has been dogged by investigations by both the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee into sex-trafficking crimes, including allegations involving underage girls, and has been snubbed in the Senate.
Gaetz has denied wrongdoing and the Justice Department has dropped charges, but the Ethics Committee is still considering releasing the report, which the committee's Republican members ultimately rejected.
Those close to President Trump believe that finding a replacement could involve someone loyal to the president-elect, such as Gaetz, but perhaps not too much trouble would be needed. .
“It's definitely going to be a Trump supporter,” said a person familiar with the discussions, adding that Trump allies like Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) may agree.
In addition to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who just won reelection in 2022, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi have also been floated as potential candidates.
Mr. Bondi is the director of the Litigation Center at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-center think tank that focuses on the Trump transition as an issue for the administration. She is also a partner at Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm where President Trump's incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, worked.
Republicans would likely support a pick like Lee, who is well-respected among his colleagues.
“I think Mike Lee is a great choice. He's clearly one of the highly respected people in the United States Senate, and everyone knows who he is,” said Sen. Mike Rounds. said Rep. (R.S.D.), adding that Lee is someone both President Trump and the Senate trust.
Mike Davis, a former federal prosecutor and aide to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), is seen as another option. He is also the founder of the Article III project, which claims to “bring brass knuckles to fight leftist legislation.”
Gates' resignation came a day after President Trump announced that he would appoint Matthew Whitaker, another name floated as a possible attorney general candidate, to be U.S. ambassador to NATO.
Additionally, President Trump has already nominated Jay Clayton, his former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to be the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and has removed him as a candidate for attorney general.
President Trump has also tapped several members of his private criminal defense team to fill other top positions at the Justice Department. This is another example of President Trump awarding key positions to people he deems loyal.
President Trump has made clear that he wants an attorney general who will be less reluctant to protect him from investigations than his two first-term attorneys general.
At the time, Trump pressed his leadership to investigate his opponents and slammed the prosecution of allies as many of them were indicted.
This is a departure from past presidents, who often maintained a firewall with the Justice Department.
Mark Poaletta, a lawyer who helped President-elect Trump plan the transition at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and argued that Whitaker should become attorney general, said Trump's influence on DOJ issues in a future administration He said he supports involvement and that the public will not be involved in any way. Prosecutors who do not agree with President Trump's plan “should resign.”
“The president is charged with overseeing what types of cases the Justice Department should focus on, and can intervene to direct the department on specific cases. He is duly elected “He is the chief executive and has every right to see that the executive branch, including the Department of Justice, carries out his policies,” he wrote to X earlier this month.
He also said that while the Justice Department does not launch political investigations, “just because you are a political opponent does not give you a free pass if you break the law.”
Other than thanking Gaetz, Trump offered no remorse for his thoughts.
“I very much appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts to get him confirmed as attorney general. He has done a very good job, but at the same time he didn’t want to get in the way of the administration and has great respect for the administration. ” President Trump wrote on his social media site.
“Matt has a great future ahead of him and I look forward to seeing him do great things.”
Al Weaver contributed.
