with that stunning announcement less than an hour ago that Matt Gates is withdrawing his name from consideration to serve as Donald Trump's Attorney General.

In a tweet announcing the decision, Gates said his confirmation was becoming a distraction to the incoming administration, writing, quote,

there is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready

on day one. Fast. It could have been one of the first political flashpoints of the new Trump era

is over. And it ended not with the bang, but a bit of a whimper. Matt Gates today withdrawing his

nomination for Attorney General in a post saying this,

quote, there is no time to waste on the needlessly protracted Washington's scuffle.

His withdrawal comes after a day spent on Capitol Hill talking to Republican senators alongside J.D. Vance

and amid a steady drip, drip, drip of cedey revelations out of the investigations

into Matt Gates that would ultimately turn into a flood.

To me, at least, that Matt Gates is acting in self-interest. I think the particulars of this ethics

investigation would have come out, and he would have had to deal with him. He would have had, and the administration, the incoming administration would have had to deal with

him. So I think it's a self-interested move, and I don't want us to get too far over our skis

with regards to Republican senators here. I think Matt Gase is an easy case for them to

exercise, advise, and consent in this regard. But I still think Donald Trump will be consistent

in his effort to, in some ways, reel the DOJN. He's worried about its independence. Donald

Trump is in so many ways with these appointments trying to consolidate his view of executive

power. And so, just as Ken noted, we need to be concerned about who's going to, who he's going to nominate in place of Gates.

So I think two things.

One, Gates is acting in self-interest.

Two, the Senate.

Let's get over our skis in terms of them being a check and balance on Donald Trump.

...