The man is a ridiculous choice who will almost certainly do horrible things – just not as horrible as what a smarter prosecutor would do.
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 17, 2024.
(Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Quiz: Who was the best attorney general during Trump’s first term? The answer is former toilet salesman to the well-off, Matt Whittaker. Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, was an unreconstructed racist who had one good moment (when he recused himself from investigating Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey) but otherwise used the Justice Department against vulnerable people. His third attorney general, Bill Barr, was an insidious monarchist whose nonsensical theories about executive power absolved Trump of any level of responsibility. Jeffrey Rosen was Trump’s last attorney general, and for the few minutes he was in charge he was fine, but Rosen narrowly fended off a challenge from Trump cronies Jeffrey Clark, who nearly brought down the government after Trump lost the 2020 election.
By contrast, Whitaker, acting attorney general between Sessions and Barr, was simply doing as he was told. He was a nonentity, a man who had no will, no vision, no power to do anything but what Trump told him to do during his short tenure at the top. The attorney general shouldn’t follow the president’s orders, especially if the president is a criminal, but at least Whitaker didn’t invent an additional evil on his own.
As we look into the second Trump administration, I would not dare hope for a new Matthew Whitaker as the head of the Department of Justice. There are a lot of scary people on the MAGA docket who understand the immense power of the DOJ and seek to use it against Trump’s enemies, their own enemies, the free press, and vulnerable people across the country. Among these people are functional Klan members who just want to get their hands on the FBI and will happily prosecute any black person who disagrees with their rule.
But in the first bit of good news since the election, Trump announced that he is picking Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to be attorney general. Given the many likely options, I’ll take Goetz as AG any scary day.
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Matt Goetz is a frivolous man. He is not known as particularly intelligent; he is not a calculating man who knows how to maximize power, as Barr was. He is not an insider with powerful friends like Jeff Sessions. He is not even a devout Christian warrior like former Attorney General John Ashcroft or a constitutional scholar like former Acting Attorney General and Republican Super Lawyer Paul Clement. He’s just… a guy. “Brother”. A creepy dude who allegedly shares photos of women he’s had sex with on the floor of the House of Representatives. The Justice Department is the most powerful and dangerous executive branch — an institution that can be a weapon against the basic domestic liberties of ordinary citizens — and Trump is handing it over to a guy who can’t fully understand the terms of service for his Venmo account.
Don’t get me wrong, frivolous people can be very dangerous, especially when given power. Pennywise, a clown from a horror movie ITpreys on children while hiding in the sewers and Matt Getz reminds me of Pennywise. He can do incredible damage to the entire nation with the power of the Department of Justice.
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Moreover, Goetz is fully committed to Trump. Traditionally, the Prosecutor General is independent from the President. It won’t happen. Whatever Trump wants, Goetz will do. Whatever Goetz thinks will make Trump happy, Goetz will provide. The point of making Goetz CEO is to ensure that the Justice Department can never even raise an objection to Trump’s plans to destroy democracy.
But the reality is that literally anyone Trump was going to appoint as CEO had to be what Goetz is: a loyal clown show. Loyalty is the only qualification Trump has for any of his cabinet positions. Loyalty is always important to weak men pretending to be strong. It is known that Abraham Lincoln wanted to have a “team of rivals” in his cabinet. Trump wants a team of sycophants. The only room Trump is comfortable in is one where everyone is kissing his ass. Trump was always going to appoint a staunch loyalist to the only agency with the power to stop him from breaking the law.
Goetz qualifies as a Trump sycophant, but he brings… nothing more to the table. I’m telling you, if Getz is the AG, the country would have dodged a bullet. Goetz will do whatever Trump wants, no less, but he won’t do very much more. Nothing on his record suggests the political creativity or technical legal skills needed to fully harness the staggering and terrifying power of the Justice Department.
Some wonder if Goetz will be confirmed. Other Republicans do not like or respect him. These Republicans acted as if Goetz, who was under investigation for ethics violations in the House of Representatives until he abruptly resigned yesterday to run for CEO, had crossed some kind of “red line” for them in terms of discretionary action. which they give to Trump’s cabinet appointments. .
I don’t believe them. First of all, it tells you all you need to know about establishment Republicans that they’re hissing at Goetz (almost entirely because they don’t like him personally) rather than the other totally unqualified sycophants Trump has announced for his cabinet — like Fox News pundit Peter Hegseth, professional fraudster Tulsi Gabbard or Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his brain worms (assuming Trump keeps his promise). Second, if you think the sexual misconduct allegations somehow disqualify him, I’ll just remind you that all of these Republicans voted for Trump even though he’s a convicted rapist.
But more importantly, even if these Republicans sincerely don’t want Goetz in power because of their personal feelings about him, it won’t matter. Trump owns them and their party. Establishment Republicans are weak and cowardly. They will do what Trump wants them to do. Spare me the stories about Sen. Susan Collins getting more and more worried: No one in their right mind is paying attention to her futile protests anymore.
Goetz will either be fully confirmed or Trump will declare a recess in the Senate and call a recess. Once in power he will go after people like Hunter Biden (note: Joe Biden should pardon Hunter now and be done with it). He will sue universities for being “woke” if told to do so, and go on television to make nonsensical arguments about why. The Justice Department will do nothing to prosecute domestic terrorists if those terrorists are white. It will do nothing to protect voting rights. It won’t help hold police accountable for unconstitutional racial profiling. It will do nothing to protect women or, with Goetz at its head, girls.
But Goetz probably won’t go after a free press as aggressively as some other potential AG picks (unless Trump tells him to one day The New York Times or he doesn’t like CBS). His track record suggests that he’s not a big fan of the surveillance system, which means he’ll likely go to dismantle the FBI rather than J.J. Edgar Hoover and hide wiretapping in all our homes. And, unlike some of the Christophacists running around here, I don’t think Goetz has much of a kick up his ass regarding recreational drug use.
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And don’t forget, Getz has it never litigated case as far as I know. Having a “senior prosecutor” who has never presided over a serious criminal prosecution is a a gift if you are concerned about who the new administration is going to judge. Remember that Attorney General is not just a patronage position; it is a very difficult job for which Goetz, as far as I can tell, is totally unqualified. Goetz will be totally beholden to the professional lawyers working under him, and while those people will certainly be terrible and have all the prosecutorial skills Goetz doesn’t, it doesn’t matter better to have an AG who doesn’t really know what he’s doing than one who knows how to promote evil.
Matthew Goetz is the worst choice for attorney general — except for everyone else. He will be creepy, but creepy in a predictable, buffoonish way. Given the alternatives, this is literally the best I could hope for.
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Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, Nation
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