Florida’s Sun Sentinel newspaper made crystal clear its damning opinion on President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial tapping of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to become his attorney general.
“Matt Gaetz must never become America’s attorney general,” the newspaper’s editorial board began a blistering essay published last week.
The board ripped Gaetz as a “rogue Florida congressman” and “a provocateur who’s good at delivering rhetorical red meat on the MAGA speaking circuit.”
And Gaetz’s selection for the role “lays bare the depth of Trump’s contempt for our vital national law enforcement apparatus and his determination to use it as a blunt instrument to seek revenge on his opponents,” it added.
“The U.S. Senate can prevent” Gaetz getting the gig, the paper explained. But with Trump calling to appoint his picks via recess appointments, the Sun Sentinel said that when it came to Gaetz that would “disgrace the country and strip the Senate of all credibility.”
Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department has drawn blowback from both sides of the aisle. The department’s investigation into allegations that were made against Gaetz, of sex trafficking and obstruction of justice, was closed last year. No charges were filed.
A fight is currently brewing over the potential release of a report on the House Ethics Committee’s probe into Gaetz over sexual misconduct and illegal drug use allegations.
Democracy In The Balance
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wants to keep the report private following Gaetz’s resignation from Congress in preparation to become AG, claiming it doesn’t need to be made public now that he is not in Congress.