President-elect Donald Trump‘s decision to nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general has stunned legal experts, with some decrying Gaetz as unqualified for the role.
Trump called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” when he announced the pick on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday. As attorney general, Gaetz would “root out systemic corruption” at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Trump said.
Gaetz, a fierce Trump loyalist who has frequently criticized the DOJ, resigned from his House seat shortly after the announcement.
Legal experts have questioned Trump’s selection of Gaetz due to his limited legal experience and because he is being tapped to lead a department that previously investigated him.
David Laufman, the former chief of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section in the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, called Gaetz’s nomination “a vomit in your mouth moment.”
However, Mike Davis, a conservative lawyer who was touted as a contender to be Trump’s attorney general pick, welcomed Gaetz’s selection, calling him “is bold and fearless.”
Gaetz’s office and a spokesperson for Trump have been contacted for comment via email.
Matt Gaetz on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to pick Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general has stunned some legal experts.
Leon Neal/Getty Images
Gaetz earned a degree from the William & Mary Law School in 2007 and he was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2008. The association’s website lists him as a member in good standing. He worked at a firm in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, before being elected to serve in the Florida House of Representatives in 2010.
The DOJ ended a sex-trafficking investigation into Gaetz with no charges last year. His resignation on Wednesday ends the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into allegations of child sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other things. Gaetz has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Gaetz is “simply unqualified, both academically, professionally, ethically, morally and experientially,” Ty Cobbs, a former Trump White House lawyer, told CNN‘s Erin Burnett on Wednesday. “This is a choice that is contemptuous, I think anybody who served in the Justice Department, historically, and most of the people that are there today are deeply saddened by this, and it diminishes the pride with which they associate themselves with the Department of Justice. Hopefully this will be a chapter that passes quickly.”
Laufman said if Gaetz is confirmed, he would turn the DOJ “into a petting zoo for the new president, and it’s going to demolish morale within the department.”
On MSNBC, a left-leaning network, Laufman said: “This is really a vomit in your mouth moment for alumni the Department of Justice and for people around the United States who care about the rule of law.”
Elie Honig, an attorney and former assistant United States attorney, called Gaetz’s selection “crazy” and “dangerous.”
“The two fundamental qualities that you need in an attorney general are one, qualifications and two, independence,” Honig said on CNN’s The Situation Room.
Gaetz “has never worked a day in his life as a prosecutor,” Honig said. “He’s only practiced law for a few years at the very local level. We’ve had AGs before who have never been prosecutors, but they’ve all had serious positions in the Justice Department in non-prosecutorial roles. Matt Gaetz is completely unknown to this profession.”
‘Grave Concern’
Noting that Gaetz proudly brags about being labeled the “Trumpiest” congressman, Honig added: “He is there to weaponize. And, you know, I am not into these doomsday scenarios. I don’t buy into them. But as somebody who spent a career at the Justice Department, this is of grave concern to me.”
Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and frequent Trump critic, called the pick “outrageous.”
Gaetz’s nomination, as well as others, are “a test for the Senate,” Vance wrote in her Civil Discourse newsletter. “A test of whether the Senate will be loyal to the Constitution or whether it will bend the knee to Donald Trump.”
However, some Trump allies welcomed Gaetz’s selection.
Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark told The Arizona Sun Times that Trump’s choice of Gaetz for attorney general is “an amazing pick.”
“Matt Gaetz is an outstanding lawyer and constitutionalist,” Clark said. He is among those charged alongside Trump with participating in a scheme to overrun the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, and has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, Davis wrote on X: “The next Attorney General must clean house and hold accountable those responsible for politicizing and weaponizing intelligence agencies and law enforcement. Matt Gaetz has the backbone to do the job.”
