Raw Story

Within hours of being tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to be the country’s next attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) began working with his colleagues on Capitol Hill to revamp his image and secure the position, according to a new report.

And that could be a tough hill for Gaetz to climb. The MAGA loyalist, seen as the orchestrator of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) ouster, has “earned a reputation in Congress as an acid-tongued, anti-establishment knife fighter who didn’t come to Washington to make friends,” according to the Bulwark.

“But now Gaetz wants to become the next attorney general of the United States. And he is doing something he rarely has since breaking out on the national scene: trying to make nice with fellow lawmakers, mainly the U.S. senators — the ultimate bastion of the political establishment—who are tasked with confirming him to the post,” the report said.

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Chief among his goals: convincing lawmakers “that he has the temperament” to lead the Justice Department and persuade them to not believe sexual misconduct allegations against him involving a minor, which Gaetz has denied for years.

“In private conversations with senators, Gaetz has been reiterating his denials and, sources say, he’s getting an assist from Vice President-elect JD Vance. The Ohio senator, who remains a member of the chamber until the new Congress is sworn in, has been lobbying skeptical senators," according to the report.

But some senators didn’t seem too sure just yet. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told the publication he wants to see “everything” involving the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz.

“We have a constitutional role to play of providing advice and consent,” Cornyn told the Bulwark. “That’s our role. The president’s role is to make the nomination. But we need to have a complete vetting of the nominees. Not only so we know that the nominee is qualified, but also to protect the president. I’m sure it’s not in his best interest to have any surprises.”

Donald Trump's nomination of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to be Attorney General has caused an explosion on social media — with a number of MAGA accounts celebrating, but legal experts and other observers horrified.

Furthermore, it appears unclear whether Gaetz, who has been one of Trump's fiercest attack dogs in Congress and faced a highly-publicized FBI investigation and subsequent congressional ethics inquiry over alleged sex trafficking, retaliation, drug use, and campaign finance offenses, will get through even a Republican-dominated Senate.

"Holy s---," wrote Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL). "Trump will nominate Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. The man who was at the center of a sex trafficking probe. God help us."

"I cannot imagine why someone would vote to confirm Matt Gaetz for host at Red Lobster, never mind Attorney General of the United States," wrote conservative analyst Jonah Goldberg.

"I was a teenage girl when Matt Gaetz decided it was appropriate to body shame and belittle me as a sitting member of Congress and now I get to sit and watch him be nominated as Attorney General of the United States," wrote Texas youth activist Olivia Julianna.

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"He nominated Matt Gaetz as the Attorney General," wrote Suffolk Young Democrats chair Skyler Johnson. "This is an administration of criminals."

"Attorney General Matt Gaetz's 'not involved in sex trafficking' T-shirt has a lot of people at his confirmation hearing asking questions already answered by his shirt," wrote liberal podcaster Tommy Vietor.

"Matt Gaetz is about as close as you can get to putting Sean Hannity in charge of the Justice Department," wrote Media Matters fellow Matt Gertz. "A total loyalist who will run investigations into whichever political enemies Trump wants hounded."

"Safe to say that GOP senators are stunned - not in a good way - on Matt Gaetz for Attorney General," wrote Punchbowl News cofounder John Bresnahan.

"We are not a serious country if the Senate confirms Matt Gaetz to lead the Justice Department," wrote anti-Trump conservative commentator Heath Mayo.

"So bad for Attorney General," wrote former Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera, using a vulgar term to describe the congressman. "Gross."

Punchbowl News reporter Jake Sherman couldn't hold it together when President-elect Donald Trump announced Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his pick for attorney general.

About 10 minutes before the selection, Sherman was on air saying former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (R-HI) would struggle to survive a confirmation hearing for the Director of National Intelligence.

But Sherman said one person may stand an even worse chance.

"Matt Gaetz — er makes Tulsi Gabbard seem like this is child's play," he laughed.

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"Matt Gaetz is going to have a tremendously difficult time —" he had to pause again for laughter.

"I can't even say this with a straight face," he confessed. "A tremendously difficult time being confirmed as attorney general. He is under ethics investigations. I wrote a story several years ago with my colleague John Bresnahan at Politico about his misspending taxpayer and campaign money."

"Matt Gaetz is not going to be — I can't imagine a situation in which Matt Gaetz gets 50 votes in the United States Senate, period, hard stop."

Gaetz was also slapped with a complaint from the Bar Association after revelations he allegedly attended a teenage sex party.

See the moment in the video below or at the link here.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

A political columnist is blaming President-elect Donald Trump's Election Day victory on celebrity endorsements — including Beyoncé's.

Slate editor Hillary Frey on Wednesday issued a condemnation of Vice President Kamala Harris' celebrity endorsements — and took a subtle jab at Beyonce in particular in an off-hand reference to the superstar's nickname.

“As these insanely famous people—one of them literally referred to as a queen — appeared during elaborate (and expensive) Harris events, I kept wondering, why?” Frey wrote. “It’s expensive, ineffective, and hollow."

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Frey argued celebrity endorsements of political candidates was a practice she described as “ridiculous at best, and snobby and condescending at worst.”

To make matters worse, Frey argued, “presidential endorsements generally don’t work.” The 2024 election was no exception.

Frey slammed the Harris campaign team emphasis on celebrity endorsements at a moment when many in the country are struggling economically.

“The downside to these events seemed much clearer to me than the potential upside, the distance between the Democratic candidate for president and everyday Americans wider than ever,” she said.

A swarm of "non-political sycophants" is buzzing around President-elect Donald Trump's Florida resort and they are hoping influencer status will secure them White House responsibilities — and infuriating transition team insiders, according to a new report.

Among them are an influencer who called herself a "QAnon spokesperson," an influencer who called for the executions of former President Barack Obama, and an influencer who called for all press briefings to be held in Palm Beach, Politico reported Wednesday.

“I’m a hair away from the White House," press secretary hopeful Melissa Rein Lively told Politico. “My clients are — I can’t even name who I work with. They own half of Palm Beach.”

Lively, an Arizona-based communications professional, has moved into the Breakers luxury resort to mount her campaign for a senior position in Trump's administration, according to the report.

That campaign seems to include a lot of Instagram posts rallying "haters" and featuring pictures of Mar-a-Lago and Roger Stone, Politico reported.

In 2020, Lively live-streamed herself destroying a Covid mask display at Target and later told police she was connected to Trump as QAnon's spokesperson. Lively has called this both a mental health break and a public relations stunt.

“My sphere of influence goes far beyond people who are paper pushers on the Trump campaign," she told Politico. “I’m telling you right now, I’m not leaving here without that press secretary gig.”

Up next is Michele Morrow, a failed schools superintendent candidate from North Carolina, who wants to serve in Trump’s “Education Administration," Politico reported.

Morrow has suggested both President Joe Biden and Obama should be executed on social, according to CNN.

“I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” Morrow wrote in a now-deleted post from May 2020. “We could make some money back from televising his death.”

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Lastly comes Breanna Morello, an internet personality who says she left Fox over Covid vaccine mandates and would “respectfully decline” a White House press secretary nomination because it would mean leaving her dogs behind in Florida.

She'd reportedly reconsider if the position was relocated to Trump's social club.

Insiders say such influencers are infuriating Trump's team.

“These maniacs are actually filming videos saying how honored they are," one campaign insider told Politico. "It is nuts.”

Another Trump campaign insider told Politico the women have no chance of securing the positions they seek.

“Holding a position in this administration will require more than fifty Instagram stories of you dining on tuna tartare at Mar-a-Lago," the Republican strategist said.

"[They] will cut through this gaggle of Gucci-clad grifters like a knife through butter."

Legislation that would have handed President-elect Donald Trump sweeping power to investigate and shutter news outlets, government watchdogs, humanitarian organizations, and other nonprofits was defeated in the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a coalition of progressive advocacy groups and lawmakers mobilized against it, warning of the bill's dire implications for the right to dissent.

But 52 Democratic lawmakers—including Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.)—apparently did not share the grave concerns expressed by the ACLU and other leading rights groups, opting to vote alongside 204 Republicans in favor of the bill.

One Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, joined 144 Democrats in voting no.

The measure ultimately fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to approve legislation under the fast-track procedure used by the bill's supporters, but progressives wasted no time spotlighting the Democrats who supported the measure.

"If you're looking for a handy list of Democrats who have no fucking clue what is about to hit and need their spines stiffened ASAP, this is a good place to start," wrote Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy group Indivisible.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who vocally opposed the legislation, wrote that "these 52 Democrats voted to give Trump the power to shut down any nonprofit he wants."

"The NAACP, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, no organization would be safe," Tlaib added. "Shameful."

If passed, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would grant the Treasury Department—soon to be under the control of a Trump nominee—the authority to unilaterally strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status by deeming them supporters of terrorism.

The bill could be revived in the next Congress, which is likely to be under full Republican control.

Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel with the ACLU, toldThe Intercept late Tuesday that "we will continue our sustained opposition."

It is already illegal under U.S. law to provide material backing for terrorism, and the executive branch has significant authority to target groups it considers terrorist-supporting.

"This isn't just an attack on our communities; it's a fundamental threat to free speech and democracy."

The ACLU noted ahead of Tuesday's vote that while the bill contains "a 90-day 'cure' period in which a designated nonprofit can mount a defense, it is a mere illusion of due process."

"The government may deny organizations its reasons and evidence against them, leaving the nonprofit unable to rebut allegations," the group said. "This means that a nonprofit could be left entirely in the dark about what conduct the government believes qualifies as 'support,' making it virtually impossible to clear its name."

Opponents of the bill warned that Palestinian rights organizations would be uniquely imperiled if it passed.

"This bill dangerously weaponizes the Treasury against nonprofit organizations and houses of worship—Christian, Jewish, or Muslim—that dare to support Palestinian and Lebanese human rights or criticize Israel's genocidal actions," said Robert McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"Allowing such sweeping, unchecked power would set a chilling precedent, enabling the government to selectively target and suppress voices of dissent under the guise of national security," McCaw added. "This isn't just an attack on our communities; it's a fundamental threat to free speech and democracy."

Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman (D-97), a Palestinian American, echoed that sentiment following Tuesday's vote and condemned the legislation's 52 Democratic supporters.

"Every single Democrat who voted for this is not taking the threat of Trump remotely seriously and should be disqualified from any leadership positions moving forward," Romman wrote on social media. "This is no longer business as usual. To agree to give him this kind of power is beyond egregious."