President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will nominate Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general, putting a loyalist in the role of the nation’s top prosecutor.
In selecting the congressman, Trump passed over some of the more established attorneys whose names had been mentioned as being contenders for the job.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.
Donald Trump has vowed to take action on various issues on his first day in office.
Gaetz has been a staunch supporter of Trump, and has regularly attacked the Justice Department and FBI, both of which he would oversee as attorney general, NBC News reported.
The DOJ and FBI investigated Gaetz for possible sex trafficking, but the case ended in 2023 without any charges filed. After the resolution of the investigation, Gaetz called for the abolishment of the FBI.
“I don’t care if it takes every second of our time and every ounce of our energy, we either get this government back on our side or we defund, get rid of, abolish the FBI CDC, ATF,” Gaetz said in 2023 at the Conservative Political Action Conference, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
