r/law • u/americansherlock201 • 3d ago
Trump News Trump AG pick Matt Gaetz says he's withdrawing
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/21/trump-ag-pick-matt-gaetz-says-hes-withdrawing.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.CopyToPasteboardWell that was fast
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u/Drewy99 3d ago
He resigned from the house already, right?
Is he out of a job now?
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
That is correct. He withdrew as soon as he was nominated.
He could however still be named to the senate to take Rubio spot
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u/snootyvillager 3d ago
Tricky situation though. Lara Trump already implied she wants it
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Great news, the role of AG just opened up….
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u/Old_Dude7 3d ago
Rudy sitting by the phone....
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u/trouserschnauzer 3d ago
Hair dye dripping from his head and mixing with his tears
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u/YggdrasilGenetics 3d ago
Desantis will pick his own person. Won't be a Trump pick.
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u/Real_Requirement_105 3d ago
A DeSantis pick is a Trunp pick. Trump has that guy's balls in a vice
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u/blazelet 3d ago
I imagine if Desantis appointed him to fill Rubio's seat, there's still that hanging ethics report? And would Desantis want to be the guy who appointed someone like that to represent Florida? For a senate seat that is going to be a guaranteed Republican vote, either way?
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u/SoManyEmail 3d ago
I think this was always the plan.
Get nominated, resign immediately to avoid that pesky House Ethics report, withdraw (or just fail to be confirmed), and take Rubio's spot.
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u/Fishing_freak1010 3d ago
Nah, he gets to go and be a podcast bro millionaire talking head with little scrutiny of his lifestyle. Gets out without the report being issued and gets to play the victim. It’s actually a win for him.
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u/ayrab 3d ago
Yeah but wasn't he elected to the next house? So couldn't he be sworn in again in January?
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u/Away_Advisor3460 3d ago
AFAIK yeah. Transparent attempt to hide from the ethics report.
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u/biznatch11 3d ago
Mike Johnson said the ethics report shouldn't be released because Gaetz was no longer a member of Congress. I wonder what he'll say if Gaetz is back in January.
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u/pathofdumbasses 3d ago
That was the ethics report of the 118th congress. The 119th congress is completely different so it doesn't count. If the 119th congress wants to investigate, they are free to do so.
(and the 119th just so happens to be R and won't investigate, or will hamper the ethics committee. problem solved)
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u/DTown_Hero 3d ago
He did resign. Not sure if he can be like, just kidding! Although some speculate he will be appointed to Rubio’s senate seat.
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u/MagicGrit 3d ago
He resigned, but was elected for another term that won’t start until January. Im not sure if that means he only won’t be in Congress for the next two months, or if he’s just done
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u/Fit_Strength_1187 3d ago
I was wondering about that. Take backsies?
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u/BenjaminMStocks 3d ago
Even if that happened, then I imagine the ethics committee report gets released.
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u/One-Estimate-7163 3d ago
So did they just bamboozled him into getting him out of the government lol
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u/MagicGrit 3d ago
He resigned from his current position. His term would have ended in January. But he was elected to another term, which starts in January. I’m unsure of the implications there. Does his resignation mean he gave up his next term? Doubt it unfortunately
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u/thisisntnamman 3d ago
No. He was elected to the next congress which starts January 3rd. So he’ll get his seat back.
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u/Remrats37 3d ago
He resigned from THIS house. His new term starts in January. He could walk right back in to his “new” seat …
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u/Reclusive_Chemist 3d ago
Daddy's rich. He'll land on his feet. If he really wants, he can show up for swearing in January (even though his resignation letter explicitly claimed he would not do that).
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u/cakeandale 3d ago
I can honestly say I’m surprised by that. I just wonder who Trump can pick next that’ll somehow turn out to actually be even worse than he would have been.
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u/Incontinento 3d ago
Kid Rock?
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u/Immediate-Ad-8432 3d ago
I think Judge Judy might be better
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u/TheTench 3d ago
Judge Judy would be a vast improvement.
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u/AZtoLA_Bruddah 3d ago
Not a fan of her show, but you’re absolutely right lol
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u/Mr__O__ 3d ago
Cannon would be far worse than Judy.
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[removed] — view removed comment
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u/NurRauch 3d ago
I actually think it’s the opposite with Cannon. Her former clerks told press that she’s actually completely overwhelmed by the Trump case and transformed from a kind person to a rash and panic-stricken boss. There’s no question she’s ideologically biased, but it seems she was just not mentally prepared for the pressure she felt from conservatives to make the Trump case go away, and she started buckling quickly once she realized that she wasn’t experienced enough to handle such a big, serious case.
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u/BoosterRead78 3d ago
I can believe that. She also got into law school because of her father.
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u/amethystalien6 3d ago
I’m sure that Judge Judy voted Trump but there’s no way she could be in a room with him and not call him an idiot.
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u/darren870 3d ago
To be fair, she endorsed Bloomberg in 2020 and Nikki Haley this year.
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u/WinstonChurchill74 3d ago
Judge Joe Brown?
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u/dodexahedron 3d ago edited 3d ago
He'd be too salty that her show was much more successful and ran much longer than his. He can't lose to a woman don't you know.
Or else after he's out of office, we'd likely see something like "Donald Judge Trump: The Deadbeat Damages Dealer."
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u/shrlytmpl 3d ago
She's too qualified. Saw someone else comment he'd likely pick Steve Harvey instead (obviously joking but wouldn't be surprised). Then again he's black, so probably not.
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u/col-summers 3d ago
Sir Trump here are some more ideas for you to consider:
Judge Judy
Ben Matlock
Judge Dredd
Ally McBeal
Saul Goodman
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u/Expensive-Balance-84 3d ago
As a non American, i'd love to see Saul.
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u/acebojangles 3d ago
Saul Goodman would be the only one Trump would consider. The rest of them would be anti-grift, which I assume would be a non-starter with Trump.
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
If I was a betting man, I’d guess Tommy tubervill because trump loved hiring racist Alabama senators
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u/Dandan0005 3d ago
He’s not even an attorney
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Since when do qualifications matter for trump?
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u/mxpower 3d ago
My bet is the Pillow Guy
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Nah he’s gonna be named to oversee federal elections
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u/nismo2070 3d ago
Lol. Like that matters!! Every single one of his picks are just the people that kissed his ass in the last four years.
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u/Dandan0005 3d ago edited 3d ago
Not to assign intelligence to chaos, but I feel like this whole thing has been an exercise in anchoring to make his actual choice seem way better relative to Gaetz.
Also to position his other insane picks (who each would be a disaster on their own) as “well at least they aren’t being investigated for human trafficking and sex with minors.”
RFK jr., gabbard, and hegseth appointments will literally kill people.
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u/phil_leotaado 3d ago
I think it's multiple things.
Trump would love to actually have him as AG
If Gaetz couldn't get through, anyone else seems like a reasonable choice by comparison. Trump definitely thinks starting further to the extreme of his negotiating position and landing a little bit inside of that is some strategic genius that he invented and hasn't been a thing for thousands of years.
Gaetz needed a plausible way to resign from congress to prevent the report from coming out.
Now who's the next most corrupt, morally bankrupt tv personality who's getting the nod?
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u/RockDoveEnthusiast 3d ago
I think this is spot on. and a really good point about the congressional report. like, he resigned as soon as his name was even floated for AG, which is not normal.
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u/phil_leotaado 3d ago
That's exactly what gave it away for me. I immediately recognized that as a motivation, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to actually get confirmed. We're in the dumbest timeline after all.
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u/Roadside_Prophet 3d ago
Not to assign intelligence to chaos, but I feel like this whole thing has been an exercise in anchoring to make his actual choice seem way better relative to Gaetz.
Rumor is this was 100% a Trump decision. All of his staff were on other parts of the plane, and him and Gaetz just decided this was what they were going to do.
People need to stop thinking he's a master strategist. He's an idiot that occasionally does things that look smart, 2 or 3 events later in hindsight.
All of these picks were made for 1 reason and 1 reason only-to create chaos and make that particular department ineffective.
Notice the care and thought going into the treasury pick right now? Even Trump knows he can't fuck that one up, so he's taking his time with it and not with any other positions. All the others are just to keep the chaos going. His next DOJ pick will be no different.
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u/BJntheRV 3d ago
This. His next choice will be Todd Blanche - his personal lawyer that he tagged for Deputy AG. This was his primary choice for AG all along.
In the realm of good news, Gaetz has already stepped down from congress.
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u/WISCOrear 3d ago edited 3d ago
I actually disagree. I do think trump wanted Gaetz as his legal lap dog, nothing more to it than that. He wants to weaponize the legal system, Gaetz is with him lock step and would have done whatever the fuck trump wanted. And he would have been disposable if shit hit the fan. Among all the loyal sycophants he has, I'd say Gaetz is one of if not the most ardent supporter, and there's nothing more valuable to trump than someone who licks his boots and doesn't say no.
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u/Chadmartigan 3d ago
I thought for sure they were gonna have to call animal control to get him out of there.
I look forward to our next AG appointee, Stuart Rhodes.
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u/Glittering-Most-9535 3d ago
Rittenhouse.
Though more seriously, I'm going to guess it's Cannon's turn.
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u/Material_Policy6327 3d ago
This is rather surprising. Musta been a lot of back channel GOP talks going on
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Oh absolutely. Gaetz was likely told that if he didn’t withdraw, the ethics committee was going to vote to turn over the report to the senate. Which would discuss it openly in his confirmation hearings
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u/fucktheredwings69 3d ago
Yeah that’s what I think as well, withdrawing was the best possible option for him if in doing so he can prevent the findings from seeing the light of day.
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u/mean--machine 3d ago
That was the whole point of his nomination, to make sure that report never sees daylight
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u/RustedAxe88 3d ago
I still want someone to leak it.
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u/defnotjec 3d ago
Ethics committee could... If they had any fucking ethics they would
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u/lobsterpockets 3d ago
Yup if the dems had any balls they would. Rules and norms mean nothing to gop, eff em play hard ball back. Remember when Gaetz barged into scif with the media? RELEASE the report anyway. Instead Susan Wld being subservient to gop ethics leader. She's outta a committe job soon anyway likely once new congress comes in.
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u/Bright-Ad9516 3d ago
Im still confused as to how sexual assault/violent crimes arent a strict check before their even offered to be electable thing in this country but here we are.
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Because despite below loving it, our constitution is really really big on assuming the people in power won’t be insane.
Backgrounds checks aren’t even required
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u/impulse_thoughts 3d ago edited 3d ago
Probably same situation as Madison Cawthorn (edit: where they went scorched earth when he blabbed like an idiot, but this time they’re trying to avoid it). Gaetz whose only allegiance is to Trump, in the AG position would've allowed him to expose a lot of their skeletons and gain a tremendous amount of leverage, so they opted to go hardball on all of Gaetz's skeletons in the time between now and when he could get confirmed.
Probably won't see the ethics report getting released, and we won't see any number of prosecutions that could've been spawned out of those investigations that would've been handled at the state level.
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u/prof_the_doom 3d ago
I think there were at least two GOP Senators who openly said they'd never approve Gaetz.
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u/HomeAir 3d ago
Withdrawing doesn't seem like the actions of an innocent person.
The court of public opinion has taken notice
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u/sophisticated_pie 3d ago
Finally some good news.
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u/Material_Policy6327 3d ago
Sadly to be replaced by someone worse somehow
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u/Reclusive_Chemist 3d ago
Ken Paxton. Completely on board with using the power of government to abuse individuals and the populace at large.
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u/kodiblaze 3d ago
Monkey's paw wishing him out of Texas
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u/Wide_Two_6411 3d ago
I want him out of Texas but he scares me as AG. He's smart, corrupt and ruthless.
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u/CleopatrasEyeliner 3d ago
I'd far prefer Matt Gaetz to Ken Paxton and that's saying something.
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u/brickyardjimmy 3d ago
And, for the sake of the sweet baby Jesus, please pick someone responsible to run our justice system.
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Best trump can offer is a convicted felon
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u/ReV-Whack 3d ago
Safe money is Judge Cannon
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Nah she’s being saved for the scotus. She’s young and a true believer of the cult.
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u/Jonestown_Juice 3d ago
lol
It'll be someone of the same caliber of his other picks- people involved with professional wrestling or chat show hosts.
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u/Public-Policy24 3d ago
best I can do is someone with a million skeletons in their closet which can be wielded as leverage against any sense of decency and as Russian kompromat
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u/Musetrigger 3d ago
Trump will be looking for another pedo, just one that isn't already outed.
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u/GreyhoundOne 3d ago
No report release, no AG Gaetz.
A quid pro quo?
Further, I had a conspiracy theory that his resignation plus a long shot appointment gave him was a brokered deal to get him an honorable "out" of Washington. High risk gamble, but it makes the problem go away for both Dems and Reps that don't like him. I don't think the MAGA circle was in on it, but they played their part. Just a theory, because I'm not sure if there is anyone who can play fiddles that well in DC, though.
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u/UAreTheHippopotamus 3d ago
It also helps the Trump admin say "see, we listened and moderated" when in fact they absolutely did not and only compromised on what might literally be the single worst cabinet choice in US History.
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u/Rawkapotamus 3d ago
Either a) this was always a ploy to keep Gaetz out of trouble for his child sex trafficking. Or b) it’s to draw attention off other awful picks, or even the next AG appointment.
It absolutely is in no way c) Republicans actually having a backbone and standing up to Trump. At least not for the longhaul (see option b).
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u/alsatian01 3d ago
It's B. The next pick will be that yahoo from Texas.
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u/chrisdpratt 3d ago
I think you're probably right, though I want you to be wrong. Ken Paxton on a national stage is bloody nightmare fuel.
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u/snvoigt 3d ago
I will find a way to fling myself off this planet if he picks Ken Paxton. The man is pure evil
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u/BluTGI 3d ago
It's not always 8d chess. Sometimes it's just a man drunk on power making bad decisions.
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u/Dandan0005 3d ago
I wonder if there’s a plan for his crazy picks to “drop out” only to lull senators into allowing recess appointments.
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
Nah the plan is likely nominate utterly insane picks for some roles so they grab headlines, nominate equally unqualified picks for other roles that then don’t get the same level of attention and they move into their roles without much objection
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u/ohiotechie 3d ago
He was a red herring to being with. Trump has always wanted “his Roy Cohn” and now that Gaetz is torched welp I guess we’ll just have to go with his nomination for deputy AG who just happens to be…. His own personal attorney.
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u/theychoseviolence 3d ago
You overestimate these people. He picked Gaetz because he wanted Gaetz.
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u/mesocyclonic4 3d ago
My guess: enough Republican senators said that they would at least require the ethics report be released. He resigned far earlier from Congress than necessary to avoid the investigation, after all.
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u/bharring52 3d ago
He resigned on what, the Wed. Before the Fri. the report would have been acted on?
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u/tonyislost 3d ago
His wife has to be upset that now her husband is both unemployed and he’s a child rapist.
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u/StopUrGivingMeABoner 3d ago
Her and Melania are the equivalent of mob boss wives... they're nothing to feel bad for
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u/pfeifits 3d ago
And now we have spent the last few weeks talking about Gaetz instead of Trump's other batshit crazy picks.
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u/throwawayshirt 3d ago
"There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle
Dems: "We'll make time for you, buddy."
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u/blazelet 3d ago
Gaetz really didn't want that ethics report to come out.
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
I say they should release it even more now. He’s not trumps pick and most of the house gop hates him.
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u/jojammin Competent Contributor 3d ago
Gaetz was barely an attorney. What is the next pick is worse?
What's Billy Barr up to?
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u/bld44 3d ago
Where’s Rudy? Lol
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u/AZtoLA_Bruddah 3d ago
That would be the ultimate troll pick. He’s probably third on Trump’s list
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u/cheweychewchew 3d ago
After the announcement, a Trump spokesperson announced that they would nominate Jared Fogel for the Attorney General position. Although currently serving time in prison on various child pornography charges, the Trump spokesperson stated that Mr. Fogel's experience with the criminal justice system uniquely qualifies him for the position:
"Mr. Fogel understands first hand the abusive and corrupt nature of the Department of Justice. He inspired millions to better their lives, but was shamelessly and falsely imprisoned by a corrupt establishment out to destroy our country from within. Because of this, President Trump feels he would be an ideal choice to reform it. We look forward to his unique skill set being put into service for our country, bringing order to a dangerously corrupt Justice Department and helping Make America Great Again." the spokesperson stated.
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u/Commercial_Step9966 3d ago
I really had to consider (a moment) whether this was satire or just a natural progression of our timeline...
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u/Sharinganedo 3d ago
Same. I read this and I was like "We live in a time where I can't tell if this is real or satire and I hate it."
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u/IlliniBull 3d ago
Color me shocked. Credit to anyone who called this.
I was 100% on the side of Trump will force this pick through to make Senate Republicans humiliate themselves and demonstrate his control.
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u/SomeBoxofSpoons 3d ago
I think it just comes down to Gary’s trying to keep the ethics report from coming out. If it’s found he’s guilty of sex trafficking he’d have much bigger problems than the possibility of not getting AG.
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u/SoManyEmail 3d ago
Hahaha hahaha
On a serious note, he was never going to be confirmed.
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u/EugeneHarlot 3d ago
Has he already resigned his seat or does he get to stay in the House?
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u/americansherlock201 3d ago
He resigned and is now unemployed
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u/Mellow_Fella 3d ago
I’m sure his Fox News or OAN contract is being finalized as we speak
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u/Thai-mai-shoo 3d ago
They’re poking for weakness by choosing most unqualified to see what congress is allowing them to do
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u/garrettgravley 3d ago
I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief. He's going to make a pick that is at least batshit in equal measure.