(Washington) He is undoubtedly one of the most divisive and most criticized elected representatives of Congress for facts not relating to public affairs: the Republican Matt Gaetz was nevertheless chosen by Donald Trump to become his prosecutor, a crucial position rewarding his loyalty.
Posted at 5:11 p.m.
Sébastien BLANC
Agence France-Presse
At only 42 years old, this elected official from Florida, regularly classified on the far right, will exercise a predominant influence in the disruptive executive that the winner of the presidential election is currently putting in place.
His appointment on Wednesday, announced directly by Donald Trump on his Truth Social network, caused an explosion as the man is hated by the Democrats and even part of his own camp.
In any case its mission is already clearly set, by this same concise message: to put an end to the “instrumentalization” by the democrats of the judicial system.
He will become the armed arm of Donald Trump’s revenge, who for years has said he is the victim of a “witch hunt” orchestrated by political justice.
Notoriety leap
PHOTO ANDREW HARNIK, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump in 2019
Until recently, Matt Gaetz was relatively little known to the general public, at least for his parliamentary work.
His notoriety changed dimension in October 2023, when he managed to bring down the then Republican President of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
Matt Gaetz was the one who filed the motion of censure which made it possible to dismiss the Speaker of the House. An unprecedented political event on Capitol Hill.
To achieve this resounding blow, Matt Gaetz had rallied a small number of representatives like him from the most radical fringe of the Republican Party.
It must be said that, on a political level, being opposed to the right to abortion, openly climate skeptic, defender of the gun lobby, propagator of the conspiracy theory of the great replacement, Matt Gaetz espouses practically all the positions of the American right the most extreme.
Before this episode in the House, Matt Gaetz’s name often found itself associated with unflattering affairs, or worse. He was accused of having a sexual relationship with an underage girl, an allegation he denied, saying he was a victim of the establishment.
A mode of defense to which the forty-year-old with the neat suits, the smile of a Hollywood actor and the always impeccably styled locks, has often resorted to.
A heavy liability
“I am the man most targeted by investigations in the United States Congress,” the ebullient representative once declared, a phrase directly inspired by the rhetoric of Donald Trump, of whom he is one of most loyal lieutenants.
He had previously published on social networks a photo montage of his skull surrounded by around fifteen firearms.
Note that Matt Gaetz has other mentions to his credit.
He was accused of possible embezzlement of public funds, facts which triggered an investigation by the ethics committee of the House of Representatives. And then illegal drug consumption, drunk driving or other abuses incompatible with the probity normally expected of a “congressman”.
However, at the head of the Department of Justice he will supervise the FBI, federal prosecutors, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the prison administration, the Marshals Service responsible for tracking down fugitives, or the drug enforcement agency (DEA).
On a lighter note, this son of a politician who presided over the Florida Senate lived in his youth in the house that served as the setting for the film “The Truman Show”, directed by Peter Weir and released in 1998 with Jim Carrey in the lead role.
