Newsmax did what it could to try and bolster the ill-fated nomination of Matt Gaetz as attorney general. But we overlooked one more thing — a Nov. 20 column by Scott Powell gushing over Gaetz in a manner that looks even more ridiculous in retrospect:
Among all U.S. agencies, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is most important in shaping and affecting the status of liberty and justice.
Many contend the DOJ attorney general (AG) is the most powerful political figure after the president. So, it came as a surprise to many that Trump chose Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to serve as his attorney general.
What this nomination shows is the farsightedness of Trump.
Our incoming 47th commander in chief grasps the imperative of disruption to reform the DOJ and restore “equal justice under the law.”
Gaetz is young, determined, brilliant, relentless, and courageous.
He has what it takes to transform an entrenched Justice Department and usher in a new depoliticized era wherein the DOJ and the FBI get “re-railed” on a straight and narrow law enforcement track.
After ranting about purported legal excesses under Barack Obama, Powell ranted some more about the Biden administration:
The Biden administration put weaponization of federal government agencies on steroids, with the Justice Department becoming a hotbed of haphazard trickery, undertaken to support various political narratives that damaged political opponents and exacerbated division within the U.S.
For example, Aug. 8, 2022 will go down in infamy being the day the FBI took the unprecedented action of raiding Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago residence allegedly in search of classified documents which Trump was purportedly unauthorized to possess.
Then between March and August of 2023 Trump became the first president in American history charged with state and federal felony crimes — not one, but four separate indictments in four different jurisdictions.
Powell didn’t explain why Trump is above the law and should never face consequences for his crimes.
Powell then claimed that “Gaetz is uniquely well-informed on areas of injustice to establish a prioritized agenda,” apparently based on the topics of Gaetz’s podcast. One of those was “Purported knowledge of the identity of FBI informants who facilitated the false flag by creating the appearance of insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021” — something for which nobody has offered credible proof. Powell concluded:
That Congressman Gaetz’s congressional career and the recent announcement of his nomination as the next U.S. attorney general has received sharp criticism and opposition should surprise no one.
Gaetz can be likened to a fighter pilot who encounters flak and fire when he is over the enemy target. His unique job qualifications are in temperament and range of knowledge about the Deep State in America and their alleged violations of the U.S. Constitution.
Unfortunately for Powell, Gaetz withdrew from consideration the day after his column was published, as it became clear that the House ethics investigation into Gaetz’s drug use and underage sexual encounters was not going away. Powell had nothing to say about that.
Powell’s column also included the laughable “editor’s note” disclaimer at the top: ” The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement for any potential federal-level nominee, or currently active for consideration federal-level nominee, on the part of Newsmax.” Who does Newsmax think they’re kidding?