Matt Gaetz, U.S. Attorney General — it’s almost an oxymoron. This is a crazy pick, a dangerous pick, writes legal columnist Elie Honig.
Matt Gaetz, United States Attorney General. It’s almost an oxymoron.
This is a crazy pick. This is a dangerous pick. This is a pick that warns of dark intentions.
Let’s get specific. We can assess any attorney general candidate on two core criteria: qualifications and independence.
Gaetz is aggressively unqualified. The man has never been a prosecutor. He has no idea what it means to stand up on court and represent the United States. He has no clue what it means to investigate, indict, and convict another human being. He’s never been in position to deprive another human being of his liberty, and he has no idea how that feels. He has no sense of prosecutorial judgment or discretion. That’s not his fault; he’s simply never done the job.
Nor is Gaetz independent by any definition of the term. He is “an outspoken conservative firebrand” and “a tireless defender of President Trump.” He has earned nicknames such as the “Trumpiest Congressman in Trump’s Washington” and “the Trumpiest Congressman,” both of which “he considers badges of honor.” No doubt, he’s proud of it all — each of the preceding quotations in this paragraph are pulled verbatim from Gaetz’s own Congressional website.
The stakes here are unimaginably high.
