Trump picks Khan for Atty General

There's been a great deal of misunderstanding here. Gaetz is not a Klingon but a genetically engineered superhuman.

Oh f-cking boy. The gloves are off.

Trump Picks Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General

The president-elect called Gaetz a ‘deeply gifted and tenacious attorney’

By Sadie Gurman and C. Ryan Barber, WSJ

Updated Nov. 13, 2024 4:14 pm ET

President-elect Donald Trump named Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, to be his pick as attorney general, turning to the sharp-tongued conservative to bring the agency under more direct presidential control.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump called Gaetz, one of his most fiercely loyal allies, a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” who would end the “the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System.”

Gaetz, 42 years old, said it would be “an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”

Trump has been fixated on filling the role of attorney general as he plots a massive shake-up of the Justice Department. He had been considering a number of candidates in seeking a top law enforcer who would share his expansive view of presidential authority and would be more willing to do the White House’s bidding.

The dynamic between a president and attorney general is often an awkward one, as the nation’s top law enforcer is expected to advance the president’s agenda as a member of his cabinet while also maintaining independence over prosecutorial and investigative decisions.

Gaetz, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has been one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, accusing it of overzealously targeting conservatives, a charge President Biden’s Attorney General Merrick Garland and other officials reject.

Trump has said he wants to align the Justice Department more closely with his agenda, by replacing career employees with loyalists, ordering investigations into those who have prosecuted him and enlisting the agency on the conservative side of the latest culture wars. Convicted of 34 felonies and charged in four state and federal criminal cases, Trump has repeatedly signaled he will try to seek retribution against his perceived enemies.

In Gaetz, Trump has turned to a congressman who himself faced investigation. Gaetz’s office said in 2023 that the Justice Department had ended its investigation of Gaetz without bringing charges, drawing to a close an inquiry that centered on whether he had inappropriate contact with a minor.