Trump shocks with the choice of Matt Gaetz as attorney general

Donald Trump has named controversial Republican Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, an ally who was once embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the department he is tasked with leading.

“Matt will end the armed government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans’ deeply shattered faith and trust in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.

The choice of a 42-year-old congressman, who has never worked at the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government, is the latest in a wave of Trump nominations of candidates with little experience.

Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives “effective immediately” on Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.

His nomination must still be confirmed by the Republican-majority Senate, and some Republican senators have already expressed skepticism.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gaetz wrote: “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”

Hours before the announcement, he said there needed to be a “full legal press against this ARMED government.”

He added, “And if that means abolishing all the three-letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, then I’m ready to get to work!”

If appointed attorney general, he would oversee both the FBI and the ATF, formally known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for attorney general,” Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol.

“This wasn’t on my bingo card.”

Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.

His office said in 2023 that prosecutors told him he would not face criminal charges.

He has also come under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and possible attempts to obstruct the investigation. But that investigation effectively ended when he resigned from Congress on Wednesday.

He has strongly denied the claims.

Bradley Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security, told the Reuters news agency that in previous administrations, someone with Gaetz’s history would have raised concerns about his ability to pass security clearances.

“I would be shocked if someone with his background were acquitted in an ordinary circumstance,” Moss said.

Some of Gaetz’s allies in the House of Representatives defended him as a candidate for attorney general, pointing to his experience as a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Asked whether she thinks Gaetz can be confirmed, Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, told reporters that many will try to “smear him” but “the evidence will speak for itself.”

Trump, who faced two federal criminal charges after his four-year term ended in 2021, has railed against the Justice Department for years and vowed to radically overhaul the department when he returns to power.

Trump’s inner circle has described the attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement official, as the most important member of the administration after the president, key to his plans to carry out mass deportations, pardon Jan. 6 rioters and to seek retribution against those who persecuted him over the past four years.