John, President-elect Trump just announced on social media he is nominating election denier, far-right ideologue, and accused sex trafficker Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.

If you’re familiar with Matt Gaetz, you already know he belongs nowhere near the Department of Justice, except as a defendant. If you agree, please add your name to our urgent rapid response petition today. Or, read on for more info >>

SIGN THE PETITION

Here’s what you need to know about Matt Gaetz, and why he simply cannot be allowed to be confirmed as Attorney General:

Rep. Gaetz was one of Donald Trump’s point men in Congress during the deadly January 6th attack – voting to overturn the 2020 election results from the wreckage later that day, [1] and in the months that followed to shield Trump and the insurrectionists he led from accountability. [2]
He’s also an anti-voter extremist – introducing bills to make it easier to purge eligible voters [3] and even threatening to shut down the government to pass his voter suppression agenda. [4] That’s in part why he earned a “perfect” score of zero on our 2024 Democracy Scorecard. [5]
And, his words and actions prove he’s not up to the task of ensuring all Americans are treated equally – he called for violence against racial justice protestors in the summer of 2020, [6] and openly promoted the white supremacist “Great Replacement" theory. [7]

John, if I listed out every way that Matt Gaetz is totally out of step with your values and mine, I’d run out of space.

But I wanted to rush this alert to you because over the past few days, you’ve probably heard from me and others how last Tuesday’s result means we all need to show up big-time for our democracy. Well, John, that time is now.

Attorney General of the United States is one of the executive branch’s most important roles – overseeing the Department of Justice, upholding the rule of law, and enforcing civil and voting rights protections.

We already knew the Department of Justice was going to be on Trump’s target list – he swore revenge after they did their jobs and held him to the same laws every other American follows. But Matt Gaetz is, without exaggeration, one of the most extreme choices Trump could have made. We can’t let it stand.

Here’s the good news: with a record as tarnished and controversial as Matt Gaetz’s, Senate confirmation is anything but a done deal. We need to speak out IMMEDIATELY to demand Senators put country before party and stop him. Can you add your name today?

Today’s announcement kicks off the first major pro-democracy fight of the incoming Trump Administration – and I hope you’re all-in. A man like Matt Gaetz can’t be allowed anywhere near our nation’s highest law enforcement role.

Thanks for all you do,

Virginia Kase Solomón, President and CEO
and the team at Common Cause

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/insurrection-at-the-capitol/2021/01/07/954380156/here-are-the-republicans-who-objected-to-the-electoral-college-count
[2] https://gaetz.house.gov/media/in-the-news/gaetz-introduces-bill-limit-harsh-sentences-jan-6-defendants
[3] https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/matt-gaetz-introduces-bill-to-allow-states-to-purge-noncitizen-voters-at-any-time/
[4] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-republicans-vote-funding-bill-shutdown-trump-save-act-rcna171635
[5] https://democracyscorecard.org/district/fl-01/
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/technology/twitter-matt-gaetz-warning.html
[7] https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2022/05/18/matt-gaetz-other-florida-republicans-offer-comments-akin-to-replacement-theory/