Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Gaetz Quits AG Bid
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his nomination to be the next Attorney-General of the US. That did not take long. Yesterday, this journal pointed out the trouble in which his nomination was. He stated when he quit, the “confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition." What he meant was that he did not have the votes. The Republicans have a 53-47 majority in the US Senate. At best, they could lose three GOP votes (no Democrat would vote for him). In committee, there was doubt the nomination would pass. So, he is out, and Pam Bondi of Florida is the new pick.
Mr. Gaetz has been one of the most loyal Trumpists, and his selection was meant to be part of the incoming president's retribution and vengeance against the DoJ that has brought numerous charges against Mr. Trump. It was his plan to turn the department into his own private investigation and persecution organization. That plan remains, but Mr. Gaetz is the not the one to do it.
Instead, Mr. Gaetz will find a job either in the administration that does not require Senate approval, of which there are many, or he will get a private sector job supporting it at a much higher rate of pay than government employees receive. It is hardly a case of not having Matt Gaetz to kick around anymore, to steal of phrase from Richard Nixon.
Some have even speculated that he might return to the Congressional seat he resigned less than two weeks ago. Florida must have a representative for its First Congressional District just like every other district in the country. Under Florida law, they have to run a primary and a special election to fill the seat. It could take into February before there is a winner of the special election.
Were Mr. Gaetz to run in that election, there would be no other race in the country going on. That means the entire political press corps will be focused on the race, Such intense scrutiny is likely to bring out much of what the House Ethics Committee uncovered in its investigation of him. Some of it has already leaked, and it is far from flattering. It is also unproved legally, but in a political campaign, that fact will not matter.
Moreover, Mr. Gaetz probably should not try to win his seat back because success would be a poisoned chalice. Were he back in the House, that report would become relevant again because he would be subject to the jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee. As things stand now, the file is dormant because he is not in the House. One election, and it could be back. It is best to let sleeping dogs lie.
So, the AG job is likely to go to Pam Bondi, the current AG of Florida. That right there makes her a more qualified candidate that Mr. Gaetz, who has no such administrative experience. She is a loyalist of the highest degree, and Mr. Trump should probably have picked Ms. Bondi in the first place.
Mr. Trump posted on social media, "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again."
The Associated Press reported, "In one recent radio appearance, she [Ms. Bondi] called Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump 'horrible' people she said were trying to make names for themselves by 'going after Donald Trump and weaponizing our legal system'."
The hypocrisy of a man with 34 felony convictions in the State of New York claiming that the DoJ was partisan is ridiculous. The convictions were state, not federal crimes. So a convicted felon is now choosing the top prosecutor in the land. And Florida's top prosecutor is going along with it for personal advancement. This is the Bizarro world of authoritarianism.
© Copyright 2024 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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