Trump cabinet latest updates: Republicans and Democrats call for ethics report into Matt Gaetz to be released
Donald Trump has picked his controversial MAGA ally to oversee the nation’s Justice Department
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Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general continues to stun Congress following the announcement.
Gaetz, whose nomination requires Senate approval, resigned from his seat in the US House of Representatives in light of the news, Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed on Wednesday. This will effectively end the House Ethics probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use made against him.
Republicans and Democrats are shocked by his nomination and there were audible gasps by House Republicans at a conference meeting on Wednesday when the news about Gaetz broke, according to Axios.
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said.
Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, told The Independent the announcement sounded like a headline in a satire publication. “That was in The Onion,” he said.
Members of both parties have called for the report to be released.
Trump has also chosen former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio to join his administration. Gabbard is set to serve as the director of national intelligence while Rubio has been nominated to be secretary of state.
Meanwhile, the Republicans have gained control of the House, completing their trifecta.
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Sen Bill Hagerty of Tennessee told Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC, “It’s amazing that you are more upset about allegations than you are about the weaponization” of the Department of Justice when asked about the litany of personal allegations against Attorney General nominee Matt Gaetz.
Former Trump White House comms director: ‘The crazy cabinet picks with focus on revenge are a distraction'
Former Trump White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin wrote on X that she hopes “those around Trump will try to keep him focused on what the American public voted for him to do: bring down the cost of living and secure the border.”
GOP senator holds up image of trans assistant HHS secretary when asked about Gaetz
Trial of accused Jan 6 rioter delayed amid wait for Trump pardon
The trial of a January 6 rioter has been delayed as a federal judge in Washington awaits possible pardons from President-elect Donald Trump.
Judge Rudolph Contreras agreed to delay the trial of 38-year-old Kansas State University doctoral student William Pope, who stands accused of attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Pope has argued the trial could be moot as he expects to be pardoned.
It appeared to be the first time that a jurist has delayed a trial after a request from a defendant expecting to be pardoned, according to The New York Times.
Trump reportedly made AG pick without incoming chief of staff being aware
‘We need to get access to everything’: Cornyn says he wants to see Gaetz ethics report
Texas Senator John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said that he wants to see the House Ethics Committee report into AG nominee Matt Gaetz.
“I can’t understand any situation under which we would deny ourselves access to full and complete information,” Cornyn said, according to Punchbowl. “Part of this is not only to determine fitness for the nominee, it’s also to protect the president. Because there may be information that the investigation would find forthcoming that would ultimately be an embarrassment to the president. So this is for all of the above reasons, we need to get access to everything.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper’s shares five words he ‘never contemplated using’ to describe Trump’s shock cabinet pick
CNN anchor Jake Tapper was among those to express his shock at some of the picks for Donald Trump’s coming administration, describing the top item as words he had “never contemplated using before.”
Tapper’s disbelief shone through as he kicked off Wednesday’s episode of The Lead With Jake Tapper, highlighting one of the more controversial selections by the President-elect.
“Welcome to The Lead, I’m Jake Tapper,” he said. “Let me begin the show by uttering some words that I never contemplated using together before. And those words are: U.S. Attorney General Matt Gaetz.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper shares disbelief over Trump’s shock cabinet pick
CNN anchor’s disbelief shone through as he kicked off his Wednesday show
Secret Service agent fired for taking lover to Obamas’ Hawaii home and suggesting tryst in Michelle’s bathroom
A Secret Service agent assigned to Barack Obama’s detail has been fired for allegedly inviting his girlfriend to the former president’s Hawaii beach house and suggesting they have sex in Michelle Obama’s bathroom.
Koryeah Dwanyen, the girlfriend of the unnamed security official known only as “Dale”, detailed the incident in her self-published memoir, Undercover Heartbreak: a Memoir of Trust and Trauma.
According to the exposé, the agent sent Dwanyen “several photographs” of the former first family’s sprawling beachfront mansion, a week before inviting her over to the property on November 6 2022 while they were away.
James Liddell reports.
Secret Service agent fired for taking lover to Obamas’ Hawaii beach home
Secret Service said it fired the agent following an investigation
Gaetz AG nomination continues to shock Republicans and Democrats
Gaetz’s nomination to be Trump’s attorney general continues to stun Republicans and Democrats.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called Gaetz’s nomination a “living nightmare.”
“Donald Trump is raiding our state for any Florida Man loyal to him, no matter how incompetent, unqualified, or extreme they may be,” Fried said in a statement. “Tapping Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor is a serious cause for concern, but nominating Matt Gaetz as Attorney General is beyond catastrophic for the country.”
Former GOP Representative Joe Walsh of Illinois told The Independent that “no one should be surprised” by Gaetz’s nomination.
“F*** ‘em,” Walsh said. “This is what America voted for.”
“Are you s****ing me?” Republican Representative Mike Simpson told The Hill when they informed him of the news.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis also told reporters on Capitol Hill: “I’m sure it’ll make for a popcorn-eating confirmation.”
Read more about the reaction below.
Republicans and Democrats in shock after Gaetz tapped as Trump’s attorney general
‘God help us,’ Representative Maxwell Frost, a fellow Floridian, posted in response to the news
Gaetz’s resignation from the House came two days before ‘highly damaging’ ethics report release
Matt Gaetz resigned from the House on Wednesday after Donald Trump tapped him for attorney general – and, according to new reports, two days before a “highly damaging’ ethics report on his conduct was set to be released.
Trump announced on Wednesday that the Florida lawmaker, a staunch ally, will be his nominee for Attorney General when he takes office in January.
Gaetz and his associates were at the center of a sex trafficking investigation carried out by current Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The former Florida lawmaker was ultimately never charged with a crime but remained the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation regarding allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
The 42-year-old has denied all wrongdoing, and his resignation effectively ends their probe as he is no longer under their jurisdiction.
But, Gaetz’s resignation comes two days before the House Ethics committee was set to release a “highly damaging” report regarding their investigation, Punchbowl News reports.
More details from Katie Hawkinson.
Matt Gaetz resigns days before ‘highly damaging’ ethics report, report says
Gaetz’s resignation ends the House ethics probe into allegations of misconduct against him
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