Gaetz Pick Shows Value Trump Places on Loyalty -- and Retribution -- as He Returns to Washington

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

56% : In announcing his selection of Gaetz as attorney general and John Ratcliffe a day earlier as CIA director, Trump underscored the premium he places on loyalty, citing both men's support for him during the Russia investigation as central to their qualifications and signaling his expectation that leaders in his administration should function not only as a president's protector but also as an instrument of retribution.
51% : "I think this selection indicates that President-elect Trump was looking for an attorney general whose views were closely aligned with him with respect to the appropriate role of the Department of Justice," said former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz.Ratcliffe, who served as Trump's director of national intelligence in the final months of his first term, rose to prominence on Capitol Hill as a staunch defender of Trump.
49% : We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ," Trump wrote in a social media post about Gaetz, a Florida Republican.
47% : The dynamic matters at a time when Trump, who will enter office in the wake of two federal indictments expected to soon evaporate and a Supreme Court opinion blessing a president's exclusive authority over the Justice Department, has threatened to pursue retaliation against perceived adversaries.
41% : "That kinship was rewarded Wednesday when Trump named Gaetz as his pick for attorney general, turning to a conservative loyalist in place of more established lawyers who'd been seen as contenders.
41% : Both investigations ended in indictments expected to wind down before Trump takes office.
36% : The rhetoric from Trump reflects an about-face in approach from President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly taken a hands-off approach from the Justice Department even while facing a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified information and as his son, Hunter, was indicted and convicted on tax and gun charges.
23% : In his first term, Trump fired an FBI director who refused to pledge loyalty to him at a private White House dinner and an attorney general who recused himself from the Justice Department's investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.
23% : "Gaetz has used the seat in Congress he first won in 2016 to rail against the Justice Department, repeatedly decrying what he -- and Trump -- contends is a criminal justice system biased against conservatives.
18% : The Trump Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to examine errors in the Russia investigation, but Gaetz scolded Durham too for failing to uncover enough damaging information about the FBI's inquiry into Trump.
13% : That Trump would openly value Gaetz's role in "defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization" is not altogether surprising.
7% : That work was credited by Trump in his selection announcement, as he praised Ratcliffe for "exposing fake Russian collusion" and having "been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public.

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