For once, the over-the-top criticism of a Trump decision is completely justified, and maybe even understated. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), just nominated by the President-Elect to be his Attorney General, has no legitimate qualifications for the job at all, which requires managing a 115,000-person agency. He has no management experience. He has no prosecutorial experience. He is a licensed lawyer, but has very little legal practice experience. No previous Attorney General, going back to Edmund Randolph, Washington’s first AG, had such a sparse legal resume. Randolph had been governor of Virginia.
I am more qualified to be the Attorney General than Matt Gaetz, and I can think of many personal friends and colleagues who are more qualified for the job than I am. If I threw a rock into a cocktail reception at the D.C. Bar, I would hit a more qualified lawyer.
That’s just what Gaetz hasn’t done and isn’t. What he has done and is would disqualify him by any rational standards even if he had sterling legal and management credentials. His Ethics Alarms dossier is ugly, and it’s incomplete. Earlier this month I named him one of the 20 most untrustworthy people running for elected office.
Gaetz’s first arrest was in 2008, though he was not convicted. In 2021, a Justice Department investigation probed whether Gaetz engaged in sex with a 17-year-old girl and then paid her to travel with him. Three women testified that they witnessed Gaetz attending a drug and sex party with the minor. (House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told a reporter recently that he has no contact with Gaetz because “I don’t hang around with pedophiles.”) Joel Greenberg, a Gaertz associate, accused him of paying for sex with a minor and provided information to prosecutors; this was before he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for, among other things, sex trafficking of a minor.
In the end, Gaetz was not charged when prosecutors concluded that they did couldn’t get a conviction. Gaetz denied everything, but no previous Attorney General nominee has had any criminal investigations attached to him. If Gaetz had been practicing law over the last ten years, it’s a good bet that he would have faced bar disciplinary proceeedings.
The House of Representatives Ethics Committee was looking into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, improper acceptance of gifts and obstruction of government investigations by Gaetz, but that probe will end as a result of his resignation from the House, a move widely believed to be motivated by his desire not to have the final report be made public. In 2023, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin alleged that Gaetz showed videos of “girls that he had slept with” to colleagues on the House floor, and “brag about how he would crush ED medicine and chase it with an energy drink so he could go all night.”
Then there are all of the obnoxious things he has said and tweeted, and his concerning affection for white supremacists and fellow scumbags. The technical term for Gaetz is “asshole.”
To give Gaetz the benefit of a few rationalizations, the office of AG has been held by some pretty bad public servants—Merrick Garland is one— and a lot of mediocrities, like Janet Reno, Ed Meese, and Alberto Gonzales. One of them, Nixon’s corrupt Attorney General John Michell, ended up in prison. Obama’s first AG, Eric Holder, was openly an Obama lackey. Nonetheless, Gaetz makes each of the worst previous occupants of the office them look like Oliver Wendell Holmes when they are compared to him.
He must be rejected by the Senate, and I am confident that he will be. Having someone as slimy and untrustworthy as Matt Gaetz as the nation’s top lawyer drags down the entire legal profession. Trump’s nomination of such a creep is indefensible politically, legally, and intellectually.
ADDED: After I posted this, I saw some of Ken White’s comments on the appointment. He wrote in part,
If this is a sincere appointment — in other words, if it isn’t a head-fake to get the Senate to accept another candidate later, or a ruse to let Gaetz resign from Congress and avoid a damaging ethics report1 — it’s an example of self-indulgence thwarting malign intent. Gaetz is a buffoon. He has absolutely no qualifications to run the Department of Justice. Can he wander around firing everyone? Yes. Does he understand how the Department of Justice works in a way that would allow him to maximize its potential for abuse? No. Is he smart enough to figure it out? Also no. Is he charismatic enough to persuade insiders to help him use it effectively? Very much no. Gaetz as Attorney General will do petty, flamboyant, stupid things in clumsy ways. Some of those things will be very bad. But clown shoes are preferable to jackboots….
Trump’s decision shows his tendency to vent his spleen. Appointing Gaetz owns the libs, humiliates the hated Justice Department, elevates someone who is a vulgar elbow-thrower like him, and is a thumb in the eye to the Republicans who hate Gaetz. It’s not a decision reflecting self-control; it’s a decision reflecting unconstrained anger and resentment. It’s like making your horse a Senator. The point isn’t that the horse will vote the way you want it to. The point is to humiliate the senate and show them you can do what you want. It’s bad, but it’s not smart bad.
I can’t disagree with any of that. (Caligula never actually mad his horse a Roman Senator, but it’s a good story, and an apt comparison.)
Ethics Alarms 
Time for some advice and no consent.
Has there been a worse confirmed AG nominee than Merrick Garland? Has there been a more corrupted DOJ than the one we’ve had under his stewardship?
Oh, I think John Mitchell definitely qualifies. Reno, Gonzalez and Holder aren’t far behind.
But none of them were as over-hyped as Garland was. He was supposed to be John Marshall and St. Augustine re-incarnate, as pure as the driven snow, when Mitch O’Connell placed his nomination to the Supreme Court in the circular file.
When is Trump going to have his Jake LaMotta moment, finally realizing his dumb mistakes, punching the walls crying, “Why? Why? Why? Why? So stupid. I’m so stupid”
He may never get it. What a serious character flaw.
Dumb.
However, if the goal is to get as many people at DOJ to quit in disgust..
You may not be able to fire them, but you can encourage them to quit. I think moving the DOJ to south Chicago and Oakland (to be nearer to the crime) would also help.
Maybe so.
But that is because we had no idea of how bad the DoJ can get after attorneys general are confirmed.
As soon as I heard of this nomination I thought, and still believe, that this is a throw-away nomination. This nominee will get the focus of all of the ire in the media and on Capitol Hill, enabling most of the other nominees to sail through. I had originally thought that Pete Hegseth was that nominee, but Gaetz is far-and-away the worst person to nominate for any position.
I have since heard the opinion floated that Gaetz’ nomination was a way for Trump to “throw him a bone” knowing that he will never be confirmed, but still rewarding him for his support.
That is beginning to be the consensus, but it is itself irresponsible. You don’t use the AG nomination for trolling, or as a “bone.” What does it tell you that this outrageous scenario is also the best case scenario. Meanwhile, I’m fielding calls from my Trump Deranged friends saying, “See? What did I tell you?”
Since he resigned his House seat, when he’s inevitably not the Attorney General, he’ll also not be in government at all. With, hopefully, a classier republican in his House.
I am wondering if that is the point for him and Rubio. It isn’t like Trump doesn’t fire people.
As for Edmund Randolph, at least he was a RANDOLPH!
How much experience did RFK have when he became attorney general? I didn’t think he had ever practiced law up to that point.
Yes, RFK was a lawyer in the Justice Department. He was also approximately 7.56 X smarter than Matt Gaetz.
I had no idea Gaetz had gone to law school.
And RFK was either an Assistant Counsel or Chief Counsel to a couple of Senate committees in the 1950s. He played a major role in the investigation of organized crime’s ties to American labor unions, particularly the questionable connections of one James Hoffa.
He hasn’t necessarily “burned his boats.” As has been noted by several Florida media, his resignation only covers the remaining weeks of this Congress. Since he won reelection in November he could theoretically be seated when the next Congress convenes in January.
Point.
How unfortunate. I don’t suppose it would be easy to have him sign the wrong paperwork and accidentally resign the new session, too?
Dang. I guess maybe I should hold off on ordering that champagne.
As far as confirmation goes, the Democrats may be the least of his problems. There’s a lot of Republicans who are pissed at Gaetz, among others, for deposing McCarthy. And for spouting off (hypocritically) about how the House needs to return to regular order in appropriations while at the same time sabotaging the speaker’s attempts to pass those very bills.
I just wish he’d been primaried. Maybe call Governor Abbott for some pointers on how it’s done?
I hadn’t thought of that, but of course you’re right. And the national news media hasn’t mentioned it.
And because of the resignation, a new Ethics Committee investigation would have to be started by the new Congress. Although it would probably have access to a copy of the current investigation’s report.
While Gaetz’s resignation may prevent the House Ethics Committee report on “Gaetz-gate” (what the congressman himself has called the scandal) from being formally published, I confidently predict that draft copies of it will make their way across Capitol Hill to members and staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee well in advance of a confirmation hearing. Considering Gaetz’s popularity among his House colleagues, that is likely to be a quietly bipartisan action.
Ya think???
“If I threw a rock into a cocktail reception at the D.C. Bar, I would hit a more qualified lawyer.”
Admit it, part of you just wants to throw rocks at the D.C. Bar.
-Jut
The rock would still be the least partisan lawyer there.
The nomination of Hegseth and Gaetz are Trumps “Bigger Red Button”. Both the DOJ and DOD are hopelessly beyond repair. Neither function as intended, and have both become a threat to our country, the former recklessly attacking political rivals and the latter recklessly spending billions without actually accomplishing anything.
I choose to view Trump from the perspective of a General, in the historical sense, and his actions, while often baffling, have the overall effect of keeping his enemies in confusion and turmoil.
It will be interesting to see how this “war” works out.
I’m not a lawyer, but I think I’M more qualified for this job than Gaetz is.
With all these house appointees leaving vacant seats, is it a strong possibility that the Republicans may lose their slight majority in the House in 2025? Just wondering.
I’m shocked at the (lack of) quality of the Trump nominees so far. This was a major issue during his first campaign and certainly gives the Trump deranged a lot of ammunition in their continued assault in his worthiness for President.
Not that I’m sticking up for the guy, but I certainly would not trust a single word that Joel Greenberg has to say about anything.
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
When I look at Hegseth, I wonder if there isn’t anyone with better military qualifications who could be trusted. For Trump, the Sec. of Defense has to be willing to get rid of the useless and dangerous generals and get back civilian control of the military. There isn’t a single serving general or admiral who meets those requirements and it doesn’t look like any retired ones either. A true outsider, like a civilian CEO would have no chance of navigating the military’s structures.
It was reported that Gen. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff, called a Chinese General twice and told the Chinese that Milley would inform them of any aggressive act by the US, that it wouldn’t be a surprise. He did this in a room with 15 people present and without the permission or knowledge of the Sec. of Defense or the President. Later, the Sec. of Defense said he was apprised of them, but his first reaction was that this was an unprecedented act of insubordination and that Milley needed to resign. Milley also stated that he would stop any order from the president that he didn’t agree with. Not one general opposed this or disapproved of it, nor did even one admiral. No retired generals or admirals signed letters to the NYT about this. Trump can trust none of them. They will refuse to acknowledge him as commander-in-chief, as they did last time.
If true, Milley should be court-martialed for treason!
As long as they all stick together, the Republicans should be able to organize the House and elect a speaker.
As I understand the rules, it takes a majority of the whole number voting to elect a speaker — if everyone is there then that’s 218 of 435. With current numbers, the GOP is in line to possibly get a 222-213 majority, the same as they had in 2022 and the Dems in 2020.
But if, say, 6 resign, that would lower their numbers to 216. But then the total voting would also go down to 429, so 216-213 is still a majority of those voting. They’d have to have 9 or more resign to be in trouble.
I think — but not absolutely sure — that even if there are some defectors, as long as everyone there actually votes, Jeffries cannot win a majority to become speaker. I think that could change if there were abstentions.
However, I am not sure that Gaetz and the group of anarchists he led actually care that much if they cause a Democrat to be elected speaker. They can generate more press if they’re in the minority anyways so…..
I guess you will have figured out that I am not a fan of Gaetz, nor of his compadres. MTG and Chip Roy are names that spring to mind, but I believe there were 8 all together.
On the bright side, I did read that they’ve changed the rules so that one representative cannot force a vote on vacating the speakership.
A thought experiment: imagine what, in his heart of hearts, Trump thinks of the “Justice” Department. January 6, Mar-A-Lago, coordination with and supervision of the Georgia and NYC cases. I’m kind of surprised he didn’t nominate Steve Bannon or Giuliani.
Or Bozo the Clown.
I did not know Mr. the Clown had gone to law school. But actually, does the attorney general even have to be a lawyer? I bet not.
No requirement at all. But every one of them has been. Same with SCOTUS Justices.
I am perplexed by Gaetz, too, but if John Bolton thinks it’s bad, well, then their might actually be some merit to his appointment:
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1857048689937723895
jvb