Gaetz’s choice shows the value Trump places on loyalty and revenge as he returns to Washington

By: ERIC TUCKER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has had few more credible defenders in Congress than Matt Gaetz, who has blasted prosecutors after prosecutors for perceived bias against the president-elect, underscoring Republicans’ call that criminal investigations into him are “extremely dangerous.” witch hunt.”

That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump picked Gaetz to be attorney general, turning to a conservative and staunch lawyer over more established lawyers seen as rivals.

Trump, who announced a day earlier that he had chosen Gaetz as attorney general and John Ratcliffe as CIA director, underlined the premium he places on loyalty and noted that both men’s support for him during the Russia investigation was central to their qualifications, saying the leaders govern not only as protectors of the president but also it should also function as a tool of revenge.

That dynamic is important at a time when Trump, who will take office on the back of two federal indictments expected to soon be dismissed and a Supreme Court opinion upholding the president’s exclusive authority over the Justice Department, threatens to retaliate against perceived enemies.

“Matt will root out systemic corruption at the Department of Justice and return the department to its true mission of fighting crime and protecting our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Integrity, Integrity and Transparency at the U.S. Department of Justice,” Trump wrote about Gaetz, the Florida Republican, on social media in media sharing.

Trump’s rhetoric echoes the perspective of President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly distanced himself from the Justice Department even as he faces a special counsel investigation over his handling of classified information and the murder of his son Hunter. He was indicted on tax and weapons charges.

Democrats were immediately alarmed, and Sen. Sen., the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Dick Durbin said Gaetz “will be disastrous” in part because of Trump’s threat to use the Justice Department “to exact revenge on his political enemies.” The president of Common Cause, a good government group, called the election “shocking” and “a serious threat to the fair and equal application of law in our country.” Even a few Senate Republicans have expressed concerns about Gaetz’s selection.

It’s not entirely surprising that Trump openly values ​​Gaetz’s role in “defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Proliferation.” During his first term, Trump fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him at a private dinner at the White House and an attorney general who recused himself from a Justice Department investigation into potential ties between Russia and the 2016 presidential campaign.

“I think this election shows that President-elect Trump is looking for an attorney general whose views on the appropriate role of the Justice Department are closely aligned with his,” said former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz.

Ratcliffe, who served as Trump’s director of national intelligence in the final months of his first term, emerged as a staunch defender of Trump on Capitol Hill. He was a member of Trump’s advisory team during his first impeachment in 2019 and questioned numerous witnesses related to the Russia investigation; including an FBI agent who led the investigation and also exchanged anti-Trump text messages with a colleague.

This work was credited in Trump’s election announcement, where he praised Ratcliffe for “exposing fake Russian collusion” and “being a warrior for Truth and Integrity with the American public.”

Gaetz would be the first attorney general in 20 years without Justice Department experience and was embroiled in a federal sex trafficking investigation in recent years that ended without criminal charges.

Hours before the announcement, Gaetz said in a social media post that there must be “full pressure on this ARMED government that has turned against our people.” He added: “And if that means Abolishing each of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to go!” If confirmed as attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and the ATF.

Billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk, who highlighted the theme of revenge, weighed in on the Gaetz appointment with the following words: “The Hammer of Justice is coming.”

Gaetz has used the seat in Congress he first won in 2016 to take on the Justice Department, repeatedly denouncing what he and Trump claim is a criminal justice system biased against conservatives. He has criticized law enforcement officials who he sees as openly anti-Trump or ineffective in protecting Trump’s interests.

When Robert Mueller visited Capitol Hill to discuss the findings of the Russia investigation, Gaetz condemned the prosecutor for leading a team that the congressman said was “deeply biased.” The Trump Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to examine errors in the Russia investigation, but Gaetz also blasted Durham for failing to uncover enough damaging information about the FBI’s investigation into Trump.

“I think you let down people who trusted you, like the (committee) chair. I think you’ve let the country down. “You are one of the obstacles to the real accountability we need,” Gaetz told Durham.

He lashed out at FBI Director Christopher Wray, saying last year that FBI candidates in Florida “deserve better than you” and slammed the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, for appointing Jack Smith as a special counsel to investigate Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. He directed harsh anger. His Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Both investigations resulted in indictments that were expected to end before Trump took office. Smith is likely to be gone by the time Gaetz arrives, and a new FBI director is also expected to be appointed, given Trump’s ongoing distaste for his own appointee, Wray.

“None of us can predict exactly what’s going to happen there,” said Ryan Fayhee, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor.

He added: “I think it’s more a matter of the department continuing to be independent and relying largely on the broad shoulders of career prosecutors and agents who hold themselves to the highest standards.”