The Week: Trump Staffs Up

• Matt Gaetz needs 51 votes, but he can’t even count past 17.

• President-elect Trump nominated his prominent toady, Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), to be his attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House, apparently to force the shutdown of an ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, obstruction, and other unsavory conduct. We understand Trump’s instincts here. During his first term, his own Department of Justice failed to rein in Obama-era holdovers, mainly at the FBI, who publicly intimated that he was a clandestine agent of Russia based on bogus evidence supplied by Trump’s political opponents. Then, his successor’s administration indicted him twice. Trump is thus highly resentful and suspicious of politicized law enforcement. But he should have no trouble finding a skilled lawyer who is appropriately loyal and scrupulously lawful. Matt Gaetz is not that lawyer. Fresh out of law school, he worked briefly at a small Florida firm before diving into electoral politics. That would not necessarily be disqualifying if Gaetz had exhibited high levels of legal acumen and judgment during his 14 years in legislatures. He has not. He was a principal supporter of Trump’s disgraceful scheme to reverse his loss to President Biden. After January 6, 2021, Gaetz peddled conspiracy theories that the Capitol riot had been covertly led by left-wing radicals rather than Trump supporters. When that didn’t fly, he decided that the violence, in which scores of police were injured, might have been an inside job orchestrated by the FBI. His most famous antic was the reckless, vengeful motion to oust then-speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post, plunging the House into weeks of chaos. Gaetz should withdraw if he truly wants to avoid an intense public examination of the subject matter of the ethics investigation. Otherwise, the Senate must do its constitutional duty and deny consent to an unworthy nominee.

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Matt Gaetz

• Matt Gaetz needs 51 votes, but he can’t even count past 17.

• President-elect Trump nominated his prominent toady, Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), to be his attorney general. Gaetz resigned from the House, apparently to force the shutdown of an ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, obstruction, and other unsavory conduct. We understand Trump’s instincts here. During his first term, his own Department of Justice failed to rein in Obama-era holdovers, mainly at the FBI, who publicly intimated that he was a clandestine agent of Russia based on bogus evidence supplied by Trump’s political opponents. Then, his successor’s administration indicted him twice. Trump is thus highly resentful and suspicious of politicized law enforcement. But he should have no trouble finding a skilled lawyer who is appropriately loyal and scrupulously lawful. Matt Gaetz is not that lawyer. Fresh out of law school, he worked briefly at a small Florida firm before diving into electoral politics. That would not necessarily be disqualifying if Gaetz had exhibited high levels of legal acumen and judgment during his 14 years in legislatures. He has not. He was a principal supporter of Trump’s disgraceful scheme to reverse his loss to President Biden. After January 6, 2021, Gaetz peddled conspiracy theories that the Capitol riot had been covertly led by left-wing radicals rather than Trump supporters. When that didn’t fly, he decided that the violence, in which scores of police were injured, might have been an inside job orchestrated by the FBI. His most famous antic was the reckless, vengeful motion to oust then-speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post, plunging the House into weeks of chaos. Gaetz should withdraw if he truly wants to avoid an intense public examination of the subject matter of the ethics investigation. Otherwise, the Senate must do its constitutional duty and deny consent to an unworthy nominee.