Former federal prosecutor says Gaetz would fail background check for entry DOJ job

Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman said former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) would fail a background check for an entry-level role at the Department of Justice (DOJ), a department President-elect Trump tapped Gaetz to lead this week. 

Litman, a former U.S. attorney, argued that “thousands of professionals” at the DOJ could not be hired “if they did what Matt Gaetz is accused of doing.” 

“Joel Greenberg [is] rotting in jail for the same thing Matt Gaetz did. Eleven years in Florida. What does he have on him that he can blackmail? What girls, minor or not, can come forward about their drug-fueled orgies, every single one that Matt Gaetz denies,” Litman said during his Friday appearance on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes.” 

“What else was he doing, you know, bragging on the [House] floor, showing pictures of sexual conquest? For character in national security, there is zero, zero chance that anyone who had done that, much less what a background investigation would turn up,” he continued. “They go cradle to grave, could even get the first step toward an appointment at the lowest professional level of the Department of Justice, not to mention attorney general.”

Gaetz, who resigned hours after being selected by Trump on Wednesday to head the DOJ, was under a multi-year investigation by the department. The probe ended and the former lawmaker did not face criminal charges. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. 

His selection to lead the DOJ has caught Washington by surprise, with some GOP senators doubting if Gaetz would end up getting confirmed through the upper chamber. 

Gaetz has also been probed by the House Ethics Committee. The panel was set to vote to decide if they would release a report regarding the allegations of illicit drug use and sexual misconduct against Gaetz on Friday, according to a source familiar with the matter. The panel canceled its meeting set for Friday morning, but the fact-finding committee could still release the report. 

“There’s never been someone as unqualified, no prosecutorial experience, no legal experience to speak of, but that’s the least of it. Someone who comes to the department with actual contempt and hostility for it, it’s gonna prompt a major exodus,” Litman said. “It’s gonna prompt judges and juries around the country to have less credibility in the DOJ, which is the really stock and trade of the DOJ.”