Billionaire Trump confidant Elon Musk defended former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general on Tuesday as Gaetz could face an uphill battle in the Senate confirmation process over ballooning sexual misconduct allegations.
President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk talk ring side during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square ... [+]
Musk, who is reportedly advising Trump on administrative appointments, tweeted early Tuesday that Gaetz “has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind,” calling him the “Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison.”
Musk said he considers the allegations against Gaetz “worth less than nothing,” noting Attorney General Merrick Garland, who Musk called “an unpricipled douchebag,” declined to bring charges against Gaetz in the DOJ’s sex trafficking investigation against him.
Musk’s defense comes a day after Joel Leppard, an attorney for two women who testified to the House Ethics Committee in its probe of Gaetz, told ABC News that he paid the women for sex and told Politico his clients attended between five and 10 “sex parties” with the congressman between 2017 and 2018.
Leppard said last week that one of the witnesses allegedly told the committee she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor.
Gaetz, who resigned from Congress last week after Trump tapped him for the AG role, has denied the allegations against him.
The House Ethics Committee meets Wednesday, though it’s unclear whether it will vote to release a potentially damning report on its Gaetz probe. The committee was investigating whether Gaetz “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct,” according to a statement it released in June. The committee was reportedly set to vote whether to release the report last week, but Gaetz resigned from Congress before the vote could be held. The committee does not have jurisdiction over former members of Congress, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have advocated for access to the report as part of the Senate confirmation process. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he is against releasing the report, arguing it would set bad precedent.
Trump has told people he believes Gaetz has less than a 50% chance of being confirmed by the Senate, where a majority vote is required to approve him and other cabinet nominees, The New York Times reported Monday. Trump has reportedly been making calls on Gaetz’s behalf and believes that Gaetz’s scandals will make his other controversial nominees seem less problematic, increasing the likelihood they’ll be confirmed, according to The Times.
Musk has become a fixture in Trump’s orbit since his election, spending ample time at Mar-a-Lago with Trump and his transition team and accompanying the President-elect in public appearances and during a visit to Washington last week. Trump appointed Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, among dozens of appointments Trump has made since the Nov. 5 election. Trump’s choice of Gaetz for AG surprised many Republican senators, while others have expressed doubts he could be confirmed, including Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who told Politico on Monday Gaetz has “an uphill climb” in the confirmation process. No Republican senators have said publicly they’ll vote to reject him. Gaetz can afford to lose only four Republican votes under the GOP’s 53-47 majority, assuming all Democrats vote against him.
Trump’s AG Pick Matt Gaetz Faces GOP Backlash—Raising Doubts About Senate Vote (Forbes)