Actually, Matt, he didn't nominate you. He said he was going to nominate you.
Would love to hear the "thoughtful feedback" from the Senate. And also the conversation on the plane that convinced Trump to try to nominate Gaetz. He must not have been all that sold if he wasn't willing to insist or try to push Gaetz through on a recess appointment.
On to the next incompetent sleezebag...
Who was he looking at when Gaetz boarded the plane?
If only, Ginger. If only.
It didn't take long to do it, either.
But wouldn't that just revive the investigation report?
UPDATE 03:14 pm:
UPDATE 06:32 pm: Next up: Pam Bondi.
She's also been photographed with Lev Parnas.
She was also one of Trump's impeachment attorneys.
Also...the withdrawal wasn't exactly voluntary...
Gaetz’s nomination was made essentially on the fly, both figuratively and literally—he and Trump were on the president-elect’s ‘Trump Force One’ airplane at the time. Trump made the decision in consultation with billionaire Elon Musk and longtime Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, a Gaetz’s friend recalled. Trump said he didn’t like any of the other lawyers who applied for the job because they didn’t have the right attitude and approach for the DOJ.
“Those other guys are stiffs,” Trump said. Musk howled in approving laughter.
“Mr. President,” Gaetz said, according to the source, “I might not be confirmable. Those guys hate me.”
But Trump and Gaetz, both of whom have been investigated by the DOJ, decided to try anyway.
[...]
Trump phoned him Thursday morning to tell him he wouldn’t get confirmed, according to a source briefed on the conversation. The president-elect explained that Republican senators were too troubled by the sex scandals and investigations surrounding Gaetz and that the constant and salacious distractions had doomed him.
“You don’t have the votes,” Trump said, according to the source. “These senators aren’t moving.”
[...]
“The writing was on the wall. Gaetz fell on his sword,” the source said, calling the decision a mutually understood acceptance of political reality.
[...]
Dumping Gaetz constituted a remarkable about face for Trump, who had not only been adamant that Gaetz would be his attorney general but who had floated the possibility of using a recess appointment to install him.
[...]
Gaetz was so confident in his abilities to press his nomination that he had wanted to speak publicly about the ethics case against him with Sean Hannity on Fox, but Trump advisers dissuaded him from appearing. One Trump adviser noted that the timing of the resignation made it clear who ultimately made the decision to pull the plug. “Matt was in this full force right up until he talked to Trump,” the adviser said.
But Trump appeared unwilling to let the confirmation process drag on. He also, in private, sounded increasingly reluctant to try to test a novel legal theory to essentially force the Senate into recess and appoint Gaetz to the post. Gaetz had helped advise Trump on the strategy and Trump had extracted a promise from incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to potentially allow for recess appointments. But Trump advisers came to the conclusion that, in this case, it would be a needless distraction and ultimately would not have worked.
[...]
Gaetz has also discussed running for Florida governor in 2026. And if he returned to Congress, he would face the same ethics report controversy.
“He was leaving to dodge the ethics report,” the source said. “It’s waiting for him if he goes back.”
The Bulwark
UPDATE 11/22/2024:
Pam Bondi was also at the hilarious, notorious Four Seasons Total Landscaping conference with Rudi.
BTW, 4STL has an
account on Bluesky. (And, also btw, posts there are called skeets. Don't ask me why "posts" doesn't cut it. And if you must, what about "fleets" since the icon is a butterfly? Yeah, maybe not.)
Also, Bluesky's CEO is a
woman.
Furthermore, in another flashback...
Bondi railed against PA Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar by accusing her of trying to “change the rules of the game,” plus she slammed the state for not allowing more observation of the vote processing.
[...]
The vote results in the Keystone State are expected to be a decisive factor for the 2020 election, though Bondi and other allies to Trump have arrived in Pennsylvania to simultaneously declare victory while raising legal challenges against the vote. When asked about the lawsuit, Bondi insisted “we do have evidence of cheating” and “we are not going anywhere until they declare we won Pennsylvania.”
Mediaite
Well, I guess that's this year.
Steve Doocy asked Bondi to clarify her “fake ballots” comment, to which, she responded “There could be. That’s the problem.”
An important point in this turn of events...
And also, that there is still a line below which the GOP will not go. It's underground, but it's there. Or not - this could have just been a personal dislike of Gaetz, and another, less despised member with the same history might have been okay with them.
PS: Joyce Vance was right. I wouldn't have made that bet.
Five days ago...
Tell that to Trump.
