Trump picks Matt Gaetz, an avenging minister at Justice
He will have to handle the clean sweep on the trials against the Tycoon and clean up at the department that the Republicans regard as an enemy
from our correspondent in New York Luca Veronese
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Key points
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The appointment of Matt Gaetz as Justice Secretary marks the most surprising and provocative step in the choices of Donald Trump, who is rapidly finalising the team of his new government.
"He is a talented and tenacious lawyer, he will protect our borders, dismantle criminal organisations, end the use of justice as a weapon and restore the faith and trust of Americans in the Justice Department after it has been totally destroyed," the president-elect announced on social media, to justify a decision that will have to be confirmed by the Republican-majority Senate.
Avengeful but inexperienced minister
An iron-fisted Trumpian, 42 years old, fervent anti-abortionist, Congressman since 2016, Gaetz has never worked in the Justice Department or even as a prosecutor at any level of government. But he has been Trump's main ally in ousting the Republican old guard from the House, guilty - according to the new populist right - of being too soft on Democrats and even seeking bipartisan deals on crucial issues such as the federal debt.
For the inner circle of Trump's advisers, Gaetz, as attorney general, will be one of the big players in the Donald's revival ready to take back power from the White House after four years of purgatory.
A kind of avenging minister who has already explained that he wants to clean up after government agencies: 'We will have to do something against those who have turned against our people. And if that means abolishing every one of the three-letter agencies, from the FBI to the Aft, I'm ready to do it,' Gaetz said, referring to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, which report directly to the Justice Department.
