House pariah status landed.Gaetz attorney general nod

President-elect Donald Trump has lined up former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to be his next attorney general.

- GUSTAF KILANDER

The right-wing political bomb-thrower resigned from Congress on Wednesday, shortly before an ethics committee investigation was set to be released into his alleged drug use and sex with a minor, allegations Gaetz has rejected.

Mr Trump was looking for someone who filled all of his requirements for what is likely to become the most important role, behind his own, in the next administration. Mr Gaetz is a loyal supporter and attack dog for the president-elect and like him, has been under federal investigation. The former congressman came out unscathed after a federal sex crime investigation, which he referred to as a product of the “deep state.”

The former president was attracted to Gaetz as the next AG for these reasons and to the notion that Gaetz would take the lead in targeting the investigators, according to The Bulwark. “The hunters have become the hunted,” a person close to Gaetz told the outlet.

Gaetz’s aggressive style and vociferous support for Trump has made him somewhat of a pariah in Congress, including with some Republicans. One Trump adviser told the outlet that Gaetz’s willingness to go to the mat for Trump and to pick fights within his own party were vital attributes in Trump’s selection of him as his nominee for attorney general.

“None of the attorneys had what Trump wants, and they didn’t talk like Gaetz,” the adviser told The Bulwark. “Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bullshit. Gaetz was the only one who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ fucking heads.’”

Florida State Representative Alex Andrade took Mr Gaetz’s seat when he was elected to the US Congress in the 2016 election.