(Photo
by
Saul
Loeb-Pool/Getty
Images)
It’s
been
a
day
since
president-elect
Donald
Trump
made
the
eye-popping
pick
of
Florida
Congressman
Matt
Gaetz
for
Attorney
General.
It’s
not
hyperbolic
to
say
the
reaction
to
the
pick
has
fallen
somewhere
between
horrified
and
stunned,
though
maybe
surprisingly
not
as
much
vitriol
is
coming
from
the
left.
But
there
is
still
a
*ton*
of
upheaval
over
the
pick.
Bloomberg
Law
reports
one
former
DOJ
official
thinks
the
decision
is
“putrid.”
“This
choice
is
putrid,”
said
a
former
senior
Trump
DOJ
official,
who
spoke
on
condition
of
anonymity
in
order
to
talk
candidly
about
peers’
reactions.
“I
can’t
imagine
anybody
with
integrity
would
want
to
work
for
this
guy
as
attorney
general.
Period.
Full
stop.”
Richard
Donoghue,
former
acting
deputy
attorney
general
and
now
a
partner
at
Pillsbury
Winthrop
Shaw
Pittman,
told
Bloomberg
what
may
be
the
kindest
reaction
to
Gaetz’s
nomination,
“surprising,
to
say
the
least.”
Former
Biglaw
partner/White
House
attorney
Ty
Cobb
called
the
pick
a
“fuck
you
to
America”
on
CNN.
Cobb
continued
the
insults,
saying
Gaetz
is
unqualified
“academically,
professionally,
ethically,
morally
and
experientially.”
“He
has
no
business
being
in
this
conversation,”
he
said,
and
that
the
selection
is
“not
serious”
and
“contemptuous.”
Even
GOP
members,
well
aware
their
party
is
in
Trump’s
hands,
have
expressed
difficulty
with
the
pick.
A
Punchbowl
News
reporter
was
around
some
Republican
Congress
members
when
the
announcement
came
out
and
posted,
“Safe
to
say
that
GOP
senators
are
stunned—not
in
a
good
way.”
A
Politico
reporter
observed
similar
disbelief,
“I’m
looking
at
a
House
Republican
who
is
laughing
so
hard
in
a
group
of
members
that
he’s
wiping
away
tears.”
Rep.
Don
Bacon
(R-Neb.)
said
he
had
“no
good
comment.”
When
news
of
Gaetz’z
likely
elevation
reached
Alaska
Sen.
Lisa
Murkowski
(R)
she
said,
“Wow.”
Asked
to
elaborate,
“I
just
said,
‘Wow.’”
She
added
Gaetz
isn’t
a
“serious”
pick,
“We
need
a
serious
attorney
general.
I’m
looking
forward
to
the
opportunity
to
consider
somebody
that
is
serious.
….This
one
was
not
on
my
bingo
card.”
Sen.
Susan
Collins
(R-ME)
has
already
said
she
won’t
support
the
pick
(jury’s
still
out
on
whether
that
changes).
Rep.
John
Duarte
(R-Calif.)
said
Gaetz
is
“a
compromised
AG”
and
that
“there
are
better
choices.”
That
reaction
has
the
benefit
(for
Duarte)
of
shading
Gaetz
while
still
sounding
MAGA
strong,
a
delicate
rhetorical
balance
to
be
sure.
Rep.
Mike
Simpson
(R-Idaho)
was
incredulous
when
confronted
with
the
news
of
Trump’s
pick,
saying,
“Are
you
shittin’
me?”
Seems
like
everyone’s
got
jokes
dunking
on
Gaetz.
Rep.
Max
Miller
(R-OH)
said:
“Gaetz
has
a
better
shot
at
having
dinner
with
Queen
Elizabeth
II
[who
is
dead]
than
being
confirmed
by
the
Senate.”
Miller
also
told
Politico
that
Gaetz
is
“a
reckless
pick”
with
“a
zero
percent
shot.”
And
off
the
record,
Republicans
were
speculating
—
unflatteringly
—
about
the
pick.
One
House
Republican,
granted
anonymity
to
speak
candidly,
had
a
theory
of
the
case:
“Sometimes
a
president
appoints
to
reward
a
person.
All
the
while,
knowing
that
it
will
not
go
through.
When
it
does
not
go
through,
they
can
appoint
the
back-up
and
they
have
cover
for
doing
so.”
That
theory
is
gaining
traction,
with
the
conservative Washington
Examiner calling Gaetz
a
“sacrificial
lamb.”
Former
National
Security
Advisor
John
Bolton
said
Gaetz
“must
be
the
worst”
Cabinet
nomination
“in
American
history.”
David
Laufman,
the
former
chief
of
the
Counterintelligence
and
Export
Control
Section
in
the
Department
of
Justice’s
National
Security
Division,
said
the
pick
was
“a
vomit
in
your
mouth
moment.”
That
will
turn
the
DOJ
“into
a
petting
zoo
for
the
new
president,
and
it’s
going
to
demolish
morale
within
the
department.”
Evocative!
Robert
Weissman,
co-president
of
the
consumer
advocacy
nonprofit
Public
Citizen,
called
Gaetz
“singularly
unqualified.”
He
continued,
“Under
Gaetz,
we’d
have
every
reason
to
expect
an
America
where
corporate
criminals
walk
free,
but
immigrants
and
people
of
color
are
harassed
or
rounded
up
with
minimal
pretext,”
which
is
terrifying
and
all,
but
with
less
lolz
than
some
of
the
reactions.
NYU
Law
professor
Stephen
Gillers
notes,
“Measured
by
experience,
intellect,
and
temperament,
Gaetz
is
singularly
unqualified
to
lead
the
Justice
Department.”
Even
the
Economist
called
Matt
Gaetz
“a
cartoonishly
divisive
Florida
congressman,
who
is
despised
even
by
many
in
his
own
party,”
and
a
“bad
omen”
selected
because
his
“personal
loyalty
to
Mr
Trump
will
be
unbound
by
any
scruple.”
Elie
Honig,
former
assistant
United
States
attorney,
backed
away
from
his
experimentation
in
MAGA-land
to
condemn
the
pick
calling
it
“crazy”
and
“dangerous.”
“He
is
there
to
weaponize.
And,
you
know,
I
am
not
into
these
doomsday
scenarios.
I
don’t
buy
into
them.
But
as
somebody
who
spent
a
career
at
the
Justice
Department,
this
is
of
grave
concern
to
me,”
he
continued.
Not
to
mention
Gaetz’s
complete
lack
of
experience!
“[Gaetz]
has
never
worked
a
day
in
his
life
as
a
prosecutor,”
Honig
said.
“He’s
only
practiced
law
for
a
few
years
at
the
very
local
level.
We’ve
had
AGs
before
who
have
never
been
prosecutors,
but
they’ve
all
had
serious
positions
in
the
Justice
Department
in
non-prosecutorial
roles.
Matt
Gaetz
is
completely
unknown
to
this
profession.”
And
these
are
only
the
first
impressions
folks
have
about
Gaetz
as
AG!
If
he
actually
winds
up
with
the
job,
the
bar
for
ridiculing
Matt
Gaetz
will
be
raised.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].
