Trump picks Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general

Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

(CNN) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general.

“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”

Gaetz said in a post on X that it would “be an honor to serve” in the role.

The congressman remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct, with the bipartisan committee saying in a rare statement in June that some of the allegations against Gaetz “merit continued review.”

Being probed are allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct,” the committee said at the time.

Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, including ever having sex with a minor or paying for sex.

Trump’s announcement came as House Republicans were meeting behind closed doors to hold their leadership elections.

Lawmakers expressed surprise as they trickled out of their conference meeting and learned of the selection.

“I got really no good comment,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said.

Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the chair of the House Appropriations, told reporters, “I know nothing about it.”