History of clashes with ‘deep state’ signals Gaetz would bring Trump reform to DOJ

In Congress, Donald Trump’s Attorney General pick Matt Gaetz was at the forefront in challenging the Justice Department and was a staunch defender of the former president, hinting at the role the firebrand could play in remaking the troubled federal agency if he is confirmed. 

Gaetz rose to prominence defending then-President Trump and bashing the Justice Department during the Russia collusion investigation into the Trump campaign, frequently appearing on television and using his role on key committees to challenge the agency, which pushed the long-debunked "Russian conspiracy" narrative. 

After Trump’s first term ended, the four-term congressman challenged the department on its handling of Hunter Biden probes and the investigation into the Trump assassination attempts. 

President-elect Trump undoubtedly nominated Gaetz for these reasons, seeing him as an important defender and loyal ally to head an agency he felt was undermining him at every turn in his first term. 

But, Gaetz will still likely face a tough confirmation battle and his nomination has drawn skepticism from Senate Republicans who will be vital to confirming him to the role. 

When spurious allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia were being pushed by Capitol Hill Democrats, Donald Trump’s first attorney general, former Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, angered the president when he recused himself and allowed the department to appoint a special counsel to investigate the allegations. 

Failure to verify

Rep. Matt Gaetz, along with Reps. Jim Jordan and Devin Nunes became the chief critics of the investigation and defenders are President Trump and his administration. 

Throughout the investigation, he demanded special counsel Robert Mueller release any evidence of collusion obtained during his secretive investigation. When the final report came showing the probe found no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia, Gaetz sharply criticized Mueller and pressed him in a hearing for answers about the foundations of his investigation. 

Specifically, he criticized Mueller for the apparent bias of his team which pursued shaky leads on Trump but failed to evaluate the veracity of information in the infamous—and now discredited—Steele Dossier. 

“Here's what I am kind of noticing Director Mueller, when people associated with Trump lied, you threw the book at them. When Christopher Steele lied, nothing. So, it seems to be when Glenn Simpson met with Russians, nothing. When the Trump met with the Russians, 3500 words. And maybe the reason there are these discrepancies in what you focused on is because the team was so biased and pledged to the resistance. And pledged to stop Trump,” Gaetz told Mueller at the hearing. 

After the Trump Justice Department appointed special prosecutor John Durham to investigate any errors in the Russia investigation, Gaetz criticized him for, in his view, failing to deliver a thorough probe. “For the people like the chairman who put trust in you, I think you let them down. I think you let the country down. You are one of the barriers to the true accountability that we need,” Gaetz told Durham during a hearing. 

Congressional Democrats swept into power in 2019 and eventually launched the first impeachment against President Trump alleging he improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to find political dirt on his opponent Joe Biden. Gaetz yet again became a key defender of Trump. 

When Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led the probe, held secret hearings behind closed doors and out of public view in a SCIF—a facility for hearing classified information—Gaetz rallied a group of House Republicans to rush into the room and disrupt the hearings. The group of representatives complained of the “Soviet style” process of the impeachment. Schiff would later be censured by the House.

Eventually that impeachment effort failed when Senate Republicans voted to acquit the president. 

After President Joe Biden took office in 2020, Gaetz continued his criticism against the Department of Justice for what he called unfair treatment of Jan. 6 protestors that entered the Capitol and for stonewalling the Biden impeachment investigation. 

Garland's DOJ fueled "conspiracy theories"

Earlier this year, Gaetz pressed Garland on the several legal cases against Trump, asking the attorney general to provide communications between his office and local authorities that had charged Trump. Specifically, Congress sought any communications between Garland’s DOJ and either Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg or Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. 

Gaetz argued that any obstruction of the request would fuel the very “conspiracy theory” Garland sought to discount: that the Biden administration had coordinated with local prosecutors in the Trump cases. “The offices you're referring to are independent offices of state—” Garland attempted to answer. 

"You come in here, and you lodge this attack that it's a conspiracy theory that there's coordinated lawfare against Trump. And then we say, 'Fine, just give us the documents. Give us the correspondents, and then if it's a conspiracy theory that will be evidence,’” Gaetz interjected.  "But when you say, 'Well, we'll take your request, and then we'll sort of work it through the DOJ's accommodation process, then you're actually advancing the very dangerous conspiracy theory that you're concerned about,’" he continued. 

Gaetz’s critical history with the Justice Department leaves little room for doubt that the now-former representative would seek to overhaul the agency and pursue the “retribution” at both the DOJ and FBI that Donald Trump promised on the campaign trial. 

"Fully committed"

The choice has reportedly rattled DOJ officials, especially those involved in the prosecutions against Trump, which have wound down at the federal level as the former president prepares to take office again in January. 

One thing that Gaetz is almost certain to do is be fully committed to implementing any Trump policies at the department, a mission that stands in contrast to his Republican successors, which acted in more independent ways from their chief executive. 

Close Trump ally and transition team member Mark Paoletta said that rank-and-file DOJ lawyers should be “fully committed to implementing President Trump’s policies or they should leave or be fired” in a post to X. 

Paoletta also warned that the new Trump team would not accept any attempts by federal bureaucrats to thwart the agenda of the incoming administration. 

Gaetz appears likely to face a tougher confirmation that other nominees. Several Senate Republicans, necessary to confirm the former representative, have expressed doubt about Gaetz’s ability to achieve the required support in the chamber. Losing the support of more than three GOP senators would doom any one of Trump's nominees. 

“It’s simply that Matt Gaetz has a very long, steep hill to get across the finish line,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.C. “And it will require the spending of a lot of capital, and you just have to ask: if you could get him across the finish line, was it worth the cost?”

“It’s going to be very difficult,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.

Some Senators have expressed concerns about the yet-unknown findings of a House Ethics Committee probe into Gaetz said to involve sexual misconduct and illegal drug use allegations. Gaetz has vehemently denied all of allegations that have been reported publicly. Now that Gaetz has resigned from the House, the committee no longer has jurisdiction to to continue the probe. 

The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., said Thursday that the findings of the report would remain confidential. Still, some Senators say they want to see the ethics report before voting on whether or not to confirm Gaetz. 

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., said he “absolutely” wanted to see the findings. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., both told NBC News that they believe the findings will come out one way or another and have bearing on the confirmation process.