CNN pundit Scott Jennings said he isn’t sure “how successful” President-elect Trump will be at getting former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) into the attorney general position.
As controversy swirls around several of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, one that has disrupted Capitol Hill is the nod to Gaetz for attorney general, who was investigated on whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, among other allegations.
The probe into Gaetz opened soon after news reports emerged that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was reportedly investigating whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
Jennings joined CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday evening, where he was asked about the reported calls Trump was making to GOP senators in Gaetz’s favor.
“Obviously, there’s going to be tremendous resistance to Gaetz, and I don’t know how successful Donald Trump is going to be at this,” Jennings replied, highlighted by Mediaite. “I mean, this goes beyond just the handful of senators who normally have problems with Donald Trump or who have feuded with him in issues in the past.”
Jennings said, “We’ll see if Trump sticks with” his calls to lawmakers urging them to support Gaetz.
Pressure is mounting on the House Ethics Committee to release the findings of its investigation into Gaetz’s alleged misconduct, so the Senate has all information necessary to make its decision.
Gaetz resigned from the House last week, and the committee typically does not make its findings public for a former lawmaker. However, members of Congress are urging the committee to do so. The committee will meet on Wednesday to weigh its decision.
Even if the report isn’t released, Jennings argued there’s “still a lot of time” between now and when the next Congress convenes to vote on Trump’s nominations, and Trump may not want Gaetz to lose the vote and choose someone else before it gets to that point.
“At some point, when you’re the president and you’ve got a nominee for anything, you have to ask yourself ‘Do I want to suffer a defeat?’” he said. “Most people don’t get defeated; they just withdraw from the process.”
Jennings said he believes that of Trump’s controversial nominees, Gaetz is in a “separate category.”
“There’s more resistance to him than anybody else, and obviously, more issues coming out by the day,” he said.
