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"While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition." "There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General."

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, putting forward a firebrand who has tussled with Jewish groups, embraced an antisemitic conspiracy theory and associated with a Holocaust denier. As attorney general, Gaetz would head the government department responsible for investigating and prosecuting hate crimes, including antisemitism... If he is confirmed to the role by the Senate, he would succeed Merrick Garland, a former federal judge who is Jewish... In 2018, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Anti-Defamation League both criticized Gaetz, then in his first term, for inviting a Holocaust denier as his guest...

The last eight years at the Department of Justice have been a disaster for the rule of law. The sprawling intelligence and law enforcement agency ran the Russia collusion hoax, hamstringing President Donald Trump during his entire first term in office. It interfered in the 2020 election by falsely telling social media companies that a laptop with incriminating information about the Biden family business was Russian disinformation, and telling them to censor speech and debate about the topic. Under President Joe Biden, the department ran two norm-obliterating politicized prosecutions against Trump in an effort to silence, bankrupt, imprison, and defeat...

Multiple current and former senior Justice Department and FBI officials have begun reaching out to lawyers in anticipation of being criminally investigated by the Trump administration, according to three people with knowledge of their deliberations. Following Trump’s decisive election victory, many Justice Department officials and career staffers were already nervous about the possibility that they would be targeted by Trump loyalists, particularly members of Congress. But the selection of former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a firebrand Trump ally who was the subject of a recent FBI investigation, to lead the department has sharply increased the sense of alarm, the sources said....

Republicans against Trump @RpsAgainstTrump Kevin McCarthy on Matt Gaetz: “I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old…”

CNN busted Trump running mate pick Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) over unearthed recordings in which he refers to childless people as “sociopaths” and “psychotic” amid outrage over similar comments. Vance has faced outrage this week over a 2021 interview that went viral, in which Vance derided “childless cat ladies” who “don’t really have a direct stake in” the country. In an interview with Fox News, Vance claimed critics were “aggressively lying” about what he said and that his remarks were “radically taken this out of context.” But on Tuesday’s edition of CNN News Central, anchor John Berman ran down a...

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), the Democrat who represents Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) district, slammed the vice presidential candidate for his views on abortion, women and marriage, arguing his was “one of the cruelest, most chaotic and downright weirdest” VP campaigns.

COMMENTARY: With only four months until the election, the Catholic GOP VP nominee must begin to right the ship immediately to avoid joining the list of historically ignominious picks that includes former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Vice President Dan Quayle.

... McAleenan allegedly leaked a nationwide Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid to the media last week, forcing the administration to cancel the extensive undertaking after months of planning. "He has proven his political leanings in his actions, including his campaign contributions," Judd wrote in a Fox News op-ed. "By definition, Kevin McAleenan should be considered anti-Trump."

The White House, keen to correct itself after Miers, has nominated an uber-intellectual, no practical experience egghead who is expected to adopt European style (read no growth) monetary policy. Was Larry Kudlow busy? Why can't this White House nominate a Reaganite to any position? These links from the BBC are helpful.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4372562.stm Here's an excerpt: The front runner The current front runner to succeed Mr Greenspan is Ben Bernanke, a Princeton economist who was appointed chairman of the council of economic advisors in June, and is therefore the government's chief economic advisor. BERNARD BERNANKE Current job: Chairman, Council of Economic...