Trump making personal phone calls to vouch for Gaetz nomination: Reports

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Posted on 11/20/2024 6:44:58 AM PST by Twotone

President-elect Donald Trump is personally making moves to shore up support for one of his more controversial Cabinet nominations: former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

Trump is reportedly calling Republican senators to discuss Gaetz and ask for their support. At least three Senate Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Susan Collins (R-ME), have publicly expressed concern about the nomination and have not said if they would confirm him. With the Senate likely having a three-seat Republican majority, Trump would need them on board.

“[Trump] clearly wants Matt Gaetz,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who received a call from Trump, told Axios, which reported the phone calls. “He believes Matt Gaetz is the one person who will have the fearlessness and ferociousness, really, to do what needs doing at the Department of Justice.”

Gaetz has also been calling Senate Republicans. Five Republican senators told the Washington Examiner they have received a call from Gaetz since being nominated last week.

“Oh, I think Congressman Gaetz has reached out to everybody,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I mean, it would be malpractice for anybody in the White House to advise anything but ‘call every member on the R side.’”

Some of Gaetz’s past behavior, including being federally investigated for sex trafficking and a House Ethics Committee investigation into alleged sexual relations with underage girls and illicit drug use, have some senators hesitant to support Gaetz.

Many Senate Republicans believe the House Ethics report is essential to vetting him for the critical post, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he does not favor the release of the report. He said releasing it would open “Pandora’s box.”

“Do I think a report, if it exists, should be released? And the answer is no because we have a rule on that,” Johnson said on Monday at the Capitol. There have been two other instances in recent years in which members who resigned from Congress had their own ethics investigations released after their resignation.

The top Democrat on the Ethics Committee, Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), told reporters that “everybody on the committee now has the report, so they’ve got the opportunity to be reviewing it.” Johnson, however, told CNN on Sunday that the report is “not finished” and is only in “rough draft form.”

“There is plenty of precedence in the Ethics Committee to disclose the report even after a member has resigned,” Wild said.

Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, but lawyers representing the alleged victims have said in recent days that at least two women testified to the committee that Gaetz paid them for sex.

Elon Musk, who has not left Trump’s side since the election two weeks ago, posted on social media that he views the allegations as “worth less than nothing.” Trump has shown no sign of withdrawing the nomination, which he views as crucial to the goals of his administration.

It’s unlikely that any Senate Democrats would grow favorable to Gaetz enough to vote on his confirmation. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Gaetz is the “least qualified person and most radical person ever nominated to be Attorney General.”

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1 posted on 11/20/2024 6:44:58 AM PST by Twotone

To: Twotone

2 posted on 11/20/2024 6:47:53 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (Let's Go Brandon! FCS (Schumer))

To: Twotone

3 posted on 11/20/2024 6:52:01 AM PST by wiseprince (Me)

To: Twotone

4 posted on 11/20/2024 6:52:27 AM PST by TTFlyer (Lenin: that by the infliction of terror, a well-organized minority can conquer a nation.)

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