WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Matt Gaetz — a House member from Florida who was recently the target of an FBI investigation — to be the next attorney general of the United States sent shock waves through the Justice Department on Wednesday.
“OMG,” a current senior Justice Department official said. A second department official called the selection “truly stunning,” and a third labeled it “insane.”
Gaetz, who was the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation that ended without charges, has been a fierce Trump supporter and has regularly attacked both the Justice Department and the FBI, including calling for the FBI to be defunded and abolished.
“What the f— is happening?!” asked a senior Justice Department official, who, like others quoted in this story, spoke anonymously to candidly assess the man chosen to head their department.
The official called it “laughable” that Gaetz was nominated, saying he should not be confirmed to such a critical position at a monumental juncture in history.
another Justice Department employee said, “I’m struggling to find words.”
“And look, he is uniquely qualified,” that Justice Department official said, snarkily. “How many other prospective attorneys general had previous experience as the subject of a criminal investigation?”
A current senior Justice Department official “did not see this coming,” while another called it “absolutely unbelievable.”
Within the halls of Justice Department headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday, the mood was somber, as some employees sat and processed what impact Gaetz might have on the institution, which has operated under a set of post-Watergate norms designed to prevent political bias from affecting criminal investigations.
Gaetz has been particularly critical of the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which has resulted in charges against more than 1,500 Trump supporters and the convictions of more than 1,100 criminals who took part in the attack, more than 600 of whom were sentenced to periods of incarceration.
On the night of Jan. 6, after the mob had been cleared from the building, Gaetz spread the conspiracy theory on the House floor that the attack had actually been orchestrated by the left-leaning group antifa.
In the years after the attack, he spread conspiracy theories about Ray Epps, a Trump supporter and Jan. 6 defendant who was falsely portrayed as a government agent, as well as about the pipe bombs that were left outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee on the eve of the attack.
Gaetz also tried to visit Jan. 6 detainees in jail and demanded the release of all of the surveillance tapes from the attack. One Jan. 6 defendant, Brandon Straka, said early last year that he was “regularly” in contact with Gaetz about the fate of those charged in relation to the Capitol attack.
Once Trump takes office, Gaetz will still need to be formally nominated for the job, a position that is confirmed by the Senate. Senate Republicans expressed bafflement with the choice of Gaetz on Wednesday, though most were careful to leave the door open to him.
A former senior Justice Department official, meanwhile, said Gaetz’s selection “cannot be real.”
“Matt lacks any substance and any understanding about the way the Dept works,” the former official continued. “He would be the final decision-maker on real important matters of national security and this is someone completely unprincipled.”
Said another former senior Justice Department official: “He is the least qualified person ever nominated for [a] position in the Department of Justice.”