In a surprise move Donald Trump picked ex-congressman Matt Gaetz as his Attorney General nominee on nov-13. The 42-year old resigned from his House seat just hours after getting nominated (and surprisingly two days before some ethics report was due)
The House ethics group made a report about Gaetz but didnt release it yet: its got stuff about a teen-girl case and maybe drug-use claims. Senator Markwayne Mullin thinks the Senate needs to look at this report since theyʼve got to vote on Gaetz becoming AG. The House Speaker Mike Johnson dont want to share it though saying “there were just 2 times in all of Congress when we broke this rule“
- Previous Justice Department looked at Gaetz for three years
- They didnt charge him with anything back in early-2023
- Gaetz says he did nothing wrong
The Senate will need to confirm Gaetz — and with 52 Republican seats its not a done-deal yet. Some GOP members arent sure about picking someone without typical AG background. Mullin (who once said Gaetz showed not-ok photos to colleagues) now says: “Im going to give him a fair shot just like any individual“
There have been I think two exceptions to the rule over the whole history of Congress and the history of the Ethics Committee