AILSA CHANG, HOST:
President-elect Donald Trump today announced his pick for one of the biggest jobs in his new administration - attorney general. For that job, Trump has chosen Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas joins us now with more. Hey, Ryan.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: Hi there.
CHANG: Hey. OK, so I saw that Trump just announced his pick for attorney general this afternoon. How did he describe Matt Gaetz?
LUCAS: So Trump made this announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social. And he called Gaetz a - quote, "a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney," and he said that he had distinguished himself in Congress by focusing on what Trump called a desperate needed reform at the Justice Department.
Now, Trump views the job of attorney general as a top priority. It's maybe the most important job after Trump's own in the incoming administration. And Trump had a rocky relationship with his attorneys general during his first term - both Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr. He lashed out at them frequently - sometimes, he claimed, for not defending him enough.
In his announcement today, Trump signaled what he views as the priorities for his next attorney general. He said that few issues in America are more important than ending what he called the partisan weaponization of our justice system. He said Gaetz will work to do that, and also to protect America's borders, dismantle criminal organizations and restore what Trump called the badly shattered faith and confidence in the Justice Department.
CHANG: OK, so this is a big job for the Trump administration. Gaetz has been in Congress, you know, for several years, Ryan, but is maybe not well known to some Americans. Can you just tell us some more about him?
LUCAS: So he represents in Congress part of the Florida Panhandle. He's a far-right firebrand. This is not a conventional pick for attorney general. Gaetz does not have the legal pedigree of the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, who was a Federal Appeals Court judge for decades, or of William Barr either who served as Trump's second attorney general last term.
Gaetz is a hard-charging politician. He's been a member of the House Judiciary Committee for a while now. He's been a fierce critic of the Justice Department, as well as its investigations involving Donald Trump - that includes the Russia investigation, as well as more recently, Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Trump's handling of classified documents, as well as his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
CHANG: And wasn't Gaetz also under federal investigation recently?
LUCAS: He was. He was. He was wrapped up in a long-running federal sex trafficking investigation. He always said that he was innocent. Ultimately, prosecutors, just last year - so during the Biden administration - declined to bring charges against him. Gaetz, though, is still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. That's in allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use and other issues, and that probe would end if he were to resign and join the administration.
CHANG: OK. So a pretty unusual pick for a lot of reasons. What's been the reaction so far?
LUCAS: Well, look, Trump campaigned on the idea of seeking vengeance on those that he feels unjustly targeted him, including folks in the Justice Department. Gaetz is someone who's used that same sort of rhetoric. And this nomination would appear to be putting someone who agrees with Trump's view at the helm of the Justice Department and the enormous power that the Justice Department wields. Gaetz, on X, said that he would be honored to serve as attorney general.
But look, his confirmation process could be rocky. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, she said today that she was shocked that Gaetz was the nominee. She said the Senate has an important role to play here in confirming nominees, and she added this.
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SUSAN COLLINS: I'm sure that there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz's hearing if, in fact, the nomination goes forward.
LUCAS: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who's been a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also said that he was surprised by Gaetz's nomination. Graham said that he's inclined to support Trump's nominees. But he, too, said that Gaetz is likely to face tough questions at his confirmation hearing.
CHANG: That is NPR's Ryan Lucas. Thank you so much, Ryan.
LUCAS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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