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Wednesday's Most Active Threads
Yesterday's topics with the most engagement included Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, colleges with negative associations, the Department of Government Efficiency, and President Joe Biden's welcome of President-elect, cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump to the White House.
The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Matt Gaetz tapped for AG" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Yesterday, I wrote about the nomination of Pete Hegseth and said that, "Trump's cabinet is quickly shaping up to be the MAGA version of the Star Wars bar, with every type of right-wing freak imaginable." But even with my expectations set accordingly, I was taken completely by surprise by this pick. So much so that I actually deleted the first thread about Matt Gaetz being chosen for Attorney General because I assumed that it was a troll. There appear to be several layers to this particular onion, and I am not sure that we have uncovered them all yet. I suspect that there are more surprises to come. With that in mind, here is what we know. Gaetz was previously investigated by federal authorities for his role in a sex trafficking ring. Gaetz, who will now oversee a significant amount of highly confidential information, left his Venmo transactions publicly viewable. His Venmo history showed payments to a woman who was linked to the sex trafficking ring. Gaetz was alleged to have paid the woman for sex at a time when she was underage. The Federal investigation of Gaetz was dropped without his being charged, but a close associate of his pled guilty and is currently serving an 11-year sentence. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics has been investigating Gaetz and his involvement in sex trafficking for some time. Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has said that Gaetz offered to drop his effort to remove McCarthy as Speaker if McCarthy quashed the Ethics investigation. McCarthy declined and subsequently lost a vote to remain as Speaker. The Ethics Committee was scheduled to release a report about Gaetz that has been described as "damaging" on Friday. He reportedly met with President-elect, cult leader, and convicted felon Donald Trump earlier this week and convinced Trump to make the AG appointment. After Trump announced the decision yesterday, Gaetz resigned from Congress. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is not allowed to appoint a successor for Gaetz. Instead, a special election must be scheduled. It could be that Gaetz' early resignation was meant to allow time for that election and decrease the period during which an empty seat would further decrease the Republicans' slim House majority. However, it is more likely that Gaetz was trying to get out before the report was released. What will happen with that report remains to be seen. In this thread, there was immediate doubt about whether Gaetz could be confirmed. However, many Republican Senators rushed to offer support for Gaetz, and others expressed a lack of interest in having a fight with Trump over the nomination. While Maine Senator Susan Collins announced her opposition, the Republicans only need 50 votes to allow Vice President-elect J. D. Vance to break the tie. Therefore, it will take more than Collins alone to block Gaetz. Even then, Trump has expressed interest in making recess appointments, which would avoid the necessity of Senate confirmation. The upshot is that the next U.S. Attorney General is very likely to be someone who was involved in sex trafficking a minor and whose only qualification is loyalty to Trump. Just one more freak in the Star Wars bar.