CNN legal analyst fires ‘Crazy’, ‘Dangerous’ Matt Gaetz as AG

CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig explained why Donald Trump’s intention to nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general is not only “crazy” but “dangerous.”

“I wish there was a gentler way to say it, but there’s no point in mincing words,” Honig said on Wednesday. The situation roombefore describing how Gaetz doesn’t meet the bar when it comes to his qualifications and his independence — “the two basic qualities that you need in a state attorney.”

“Matt Gaetz has never worked a day in his life as a prosecutor,” Honig said.

“He has no idea what it means to stand in a court of law and say, ‘representing the United States of America.’ He has no idea what it means to indict someone and potentially take away their individual liberty. He has only practiced law for a couple years at a very local level. We’ve had (attorneys general) before who have never been prosecutors, but they’ve all held serious positions in the Department of Justice in non-prosecutor roles. Matt Gaetz is completely unknown to this profession.”

Gaetz, who earned a law degree in 2007 from William & Mary Law School, would later enter private practice at the Florida-based firm of Keefe, Anchors & Gordon. Gaetz was first elected to Congress in a special election in April 2010.

As for Gaetz’s “independence,” Honig mentioned how he proud describes himself as “a tireless defender of President Trump and his vision for America.”

“He says he wears it as a badge of honor. He’s there to weaponize,” Honig said. “I’m not into these doomsday scenarios … but as someone who spent a career at the Justice Department, this is very troubling to me.”

Honig later compared a potential Gaetz tenure to that of a few of Trump’s former attorneys general, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr.

“What Bill Barr didn’t want to do was use the Justice Department as an offensive weapon to go after people,” he said, noting that Barr served primarily to defend Trump. “Every indication… is that that’s the strategy here.”

Gaetz was also the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation — a point CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid said made him feel “victimized” by the Justice Department and the FBI. Trump does, of course, too, she noted.

Gaetz denied the allegations, and the federal investigation resulted in no charges. An investigation by the House Ethics Committee has been closed due to Gaetz’s resignation on Wednesday.