Who Will Trump Pick for Attorney General After Matt Gaetz Resigns?

On November 22, 2024By Littum

Donald Trump is going back to the drawing board for attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration. Here are some candidates.

WASHINGTON – Former Rep. The withdrawal of Matt Gaetz as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general has created an opening for one of the criminal defense lawyers he tapped for top Justice Department posts — or for other firebrands the president-elect previously considered.

Trump could potentially elevate defense attorney Todd Blanche, whom he had already appointed as deputy attorney general, the department’s #2 job. Other candidates included Late. Mike Lee, R-Utah, former intelligence official Kash Patel and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“It basically comes down to who can demonstrate the most loyalty to Trump and be a Matt Gaetz without the baggage,” said Jeff Breinholt, a former senior attorney and counterterrorism official at the Justice Department.

Gaetz recused himself from the hearing Thursday amid the continued revelations of damaging testimony from federal and House committee investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Gaetz denied the allegations.

Here’s what we know about potential candidates for solicitor general:

Todd Blanche

Blanche and Emil Bove, who was named principal associate deputy attorney general, defended Trump in his New York hush money lawsuit and federal investigations into his alleged election meddling and mishandling of classified documents.

Their delay strategy sustained action in both federal cases until after the election. Following Trump’s victory, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is handling both cases under the department’s policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.

Despite Trump’s conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Blanche aggressively represented him and called his former lawyer Michael Cohen a liar. Sentencing in the Manhattan case has been delayed, while District Attorney Alvin Bragg called for a delay until Trump leaves office, while Trump’s lawyers argue the charges should be dropped entirely.

Blanche had previously been a federal prosecutor in New York and clerked for two federal judges.

“Todd is an outstanding lawyer who will be a crucial leader in the Department of Justice who will fix what has been a broken justice system for far too long,” Trump said in announcing his choice for deputy attorney general.

Late. Mike Lee, R-Utah

Lee, who has served 14 years in the Senate and sits on the Judiciary Committee, was considered a top candidate for attorney general before Gaetz was selected and could potentially face an easier path to confirmation from his fellow senators.

Lee was a vocal advocate for Trump in his first term and exchanged emails with Trump’s White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, discussing how to challenge the 2020 election results.

In texts obtained by CNNstated Lee’s “unequivocal support for you to exhaust all legal and constitutional means at your disposal,” although the senator ultimately voted to confirm Joe Biden’s election victory.

“He’s definitely one of those guys who has a lot of respect in the United States Senate,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, RS.D.

Kash Patel, former defense and intelligence official

Patel served as a National Security Council official, senior adviser to the Director of National Intelligence, and as chief of staff to the Secretary of Defense during Trump’s first term. He is also under consideration for FBI director.

Patel has frequently posted on social media and made public appearances in support of Trump and his agenda since leaving office in 2021, particularly in opposing and destroying what both have called the “deep state” of the national security bureaucracy.

“We need to deploy every American patriot from top to bottom,” Patel told another Trump surrogate, Steve Bannon in a recent post-election interview. Patel said he and Trump administration leaders “will go out and find the conspirators, not only in the government but in the media” who are considered disloyal to Trump.

Patel has shown a willingness to do what Trump wants him to do, but he rubbed a lot of people in the department the wrong way along with judges in counterterrorism cases, Breinholt said.

“Kash was very unpopular with the judiciary during his time at Justice, so we sent him up to the Hill,” where Patel worked for Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., on the House Intelligence Committee, Breinholt said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Paxton has been a vocal supporter of Trump, speaking at the former president’s rally near the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, and attending his election night party at Mar-a-Lago.

A former attorney general, Paxton has served as Texas attorney general since 2015. He filed 27 lawsuits against the Obama administration over a two-year period, with six cases heard at the Supreme Court.

Like Trump, Paxton has been the subject of a criminal investigation and an impeachment trial. He settled a lengthy indictment on securities fraud charges in March without entering a plea but agreed to pay $271,000 and perform community service.

Paxton was previously impeached on 20 counts of misconduct, but the state The Senate acquitted him in September 2023.

“Ken was made to suffer for a long period of time, but it worked out very well,” Trump said after the acquittal.