Matt Gaetz withdraws, Pam Bondi becomes Trump’s new AG nominee
The Excerpt
USA TODAY
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 22 November 2024
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Matt Gaetz couldn’t beat the criticism and controversy. He withdrew his nomination to be President-Elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General. Trump quickly named Florida’s top prosecutor, Pam Bondi, in his place. USA TODAY Congress & Campaigns Reporter Riley Beggin gives the inside details on what happened.
Matt Gaetz isn’t the only controversial pick President-elect Donald Trump has announced. He continues to fill his Cabinet at a breakneck speed, outpacing other recent presidents, including himself during his first term.
The architect of two of the most controversial policies from Donald Trump’s first term – the Muslim ban and the family separation police at the border – will again play a prominent role in Trump’s second presidency, likely leading the rollout of Trump’s promise for mass deportation.
Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity for its military response in Gaza.
Bluesky – the relatively new social media platform created by the founders of Twitter – continues to rapidly grow, reaching 20 million users – many, who signed up after Donald Trump was elected earlier this month.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to USA Today's The Excerpt, ad-free right now. |
| 0:05.6 | Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. |
| 0:12.8 | Good morning. I'm Sarah Gannum filling in for Taylor Wilson. |
| 0:16.7 | Today is Friday, November 22, 2024. |
| 0:20.4 | This is the excerpt. |
| 0:22.6 | Today, embattled former Congressman Matt Gates withdraws his name from consideration to lead Trump's Justice Department. |
| 0:29.6 | Plus, the controversial architect of Trump's first-term immigration policies is coming back for his second term. And the International Criminal Court |
| 0:39.7 | issues an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From the start, President |
| 0:46.9 | Trump's nomination of former Congressman Matt Gates to be his new Attorney General was bogged |
| 0:52.2 | down by the weight of controversy and allegations of misconduct. |
| 0:56.4 | Gates had been investigated but never charged by the very department that he was to lead for |
| 1:01.7 | accusations that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl. On Thursday, Gates announced he was |
| 1:07.9 | withdrawing from consideration to lead the Department of Justice. USA today, |
| 1:13.1 | Congress and Campaigns reporter Riley Began has the inside details of what happened. Hi, Riley. Thanks |
| 1:19.4 | for joining me. Of course, anytime. Let's start with Gates' own words. What did he say about why he was |
| 1:26.2 | withdrawing? So he posted on X today and said that his |
| 1:31.3 | confirmation was, quote, unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump Vance |
| 1:37.6 | transition, unquote. He is saying there was going to be a long fight in Washington, so he's bowing out now. |
| 1:45.3 | And tell us, what do you think was going on behind the scenes |
| 1:48.4 | that was driving this? |
| 1:49.9 | Essentially, Matt Gates has a pretty sorted history, |
| 1:55.0 | allegedly, that was creating complications |
... |
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