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Trump’s Pick for US Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, Draws Ire Over Lawmaker’s Record on Antisemitism
US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump in Henderson, Nevada, US, Oct. 31, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake
US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as his attorney general for the incoming administration, drawing attention to the lawmaker’s record on antisemitism, which has prompted criticism from prominent Jewish organizations.
Lawmakers from both major US political parties reacted with surprise and disbelief at the prospect of elevating Gaetz — a scandal-ridden figure with charges of sexual misconduct — to one of the most powerful positions in the federal government whose responsibilities include combating discrimination and hate crimes.
The divisive appointment faces dubious odds of succeeding in Senate confirmation, given Gaetz’s widespread unpopularity even among his Republican colleagues.
Gaetz resigned from Congress on Wednesday, reportedly days before the House Ethics Committee was set to release the findings of its investigation into the congressman’s sexual misconduct and drug use allegations.
Earlier this year, Gaetz objected to the Antisemitism Awareness Act, arguing that the widely accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism undermines the teaching that Jews are responsible for killing Jesus.
“The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” Gaetz wrote on X/Twitter. “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this.”
The legislation ultimately passed the house in May by a 320-91 margin.
Gaetz has also condemned the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a “racist” organization after it called on Fox News to punish former host Tucker Carlson for spreading the controversial “Great Replacement Theory.” The theory, which is often promoted by white nationalists, posits that Jews are responsible for trafficking hordes of migrants into the United States for the purpose of replacing the white majority.
In 2018, Gaetz offered Chuck Johnson, a right-wing political activist and Holocaust denier, a ticket to the State of the Union. Though Gaetz initially denied knowledge of Johnson’s Holocaust denialism, he refused to rescind the activist’s invitation after it was brought to his attention by a staffer. Gaetz subsequently defended Johnson in an interview, lauding the right-wing provocateur as “polite.”
“He’s not a Holocaust denier, he’s not a white supremacist. Those are unfortunate characterizations of him, but I did not know he was as perhaps as infamous and controversial as he was when he came by to my office. … He was a polite and just entirely appropriate guest I thought,” Gaetz said in an interview to Fox Business.
In 2019, Gaetz hired a former Trump speechwriter who was canned from his position after his ties to a white nationalist conference became public. The speechwriter, Darren Beattie, spoke at the H.L. Mencken Club Conference, an event that drew famous white nationalists and antisemites such as Richard Spencer.
In 2018, the lawmaker peddled the conspiracy theory that Jewish billionaire George Soros paid migrants to join caravans headed to the United States. In 2023, Gaetz engaged in a fiery debate with American University Professor Pamela Nadell over whether criticism of Soros should be considered an antisemitic trope.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt took to X/Twitter to criticize Gaetz’s selection for attorney general.
“Rep. Matt Gaetz has a long history of trafficking in antisemitism — from explaining his vote against the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act by invoking the centuries-old trope that Jews killed Jesus to defending the Great Replacement Theory and inviting a Holocaust denier as his 2018 State of the Union guest. He should not be appointed to any high office, much less one overseeing the impartial execution of our nation’s laws,” Greenblatt wrote.
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) slammed Gaetz’s nomination as a “reckless pick.” He added that “Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the Senate.”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) condemned Gaetz’s previous remarks as “disqualifying” and urged Trump to “reconsider” the nomination.
“Matt Gaetz’s history of problematic remarks — including perpetuating antisemitic conspiracy theories — should be disqualifying for anyone seeking to be America’s top law enforcement officer,” the AJC said.
Gaetz, a firebrand with strong ties to fringe elements of the Republican party, faces long odds in making it through the Senate’s confirmation process. While Gaetz’s combative nature has eroded his relationships with many of his fellow GOP colleagues, the lawmaker still has some influence, as evinced by his successful effort to oust then-Republican leader Kevin McCarthy from his position as Speaker of the House last year.
The post Trump’s Pick for US Attorney General, Matt Gaetz, Draws Ire Over Lawmaker’s Record on Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iranian Media Claims Obtaining ‘Sensitive’ Israeli Intelligence Materials
FILE PHOTO: The atomic symbol and the Iranian flag are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – Iranian and Iran-affiliated media claimed on Saturday that the Islamic Republic had obtained a trove of “strategic and sensitive” Israeli intelligence materials related to Israel’s nuclear facilities and defense plans.
“Iran’s intelligence apparatus has obtained a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents belonging to the Zionist regime,” Iran’s state broadcaster said, referring to Israel in the manner accepted in those Muslim or Arab states that don’t recognize its legitimacy. The statement was also relayed by the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah.
The reports did not include any details on the documents or how Iran had obtained them.
The intelligence reportedly included “thousands of documents related to that regime’s nuclear plans and facilities,” it added.
According to the reports, “the data haul was extracted during a covert operation and included a vast volume of materials including documents, images, and videos.”
The report comes amid high tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, over which it is in talks with the US administration of President Donald Trump.
Iranian-Israeli tensions reached an all-time high since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, including Iranian rocket fire on Israel and Israeli aerial raids in Iran that devastated much of the regime’s air defenses.
Israel, which regards the prospect of the antisemitic mullah regime obtaining a nuclear weapon as an existential threat, has indicated it could resort to a military strike against Iran’s installations should talks fail to curb uranium enrichment.
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Israel Retrieves Body of Thai Hostage from Gaza
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
The Israeli military has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage who had been held in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Nattapong Pinta’s body was held by a Palestinian terrorist group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
There was no immediate comment from the Mujahedeen Brigades, who have previously denied killing their captives, or from Hamas. The Israeli military said the Brigades were still holding the body of another foreign national. Only 20 of the 55 remaining hostages are believed to still be alive.
The Mujahedeen Brigades also held and killed Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, according to Israeli authorities. Their bodies were returned during a two-month ceasefire, which collapsed in March after the two sides could not agree on terms for extending it to a second phase.
Israel has since expanded its offensive across the Gaza Strip as US, Qatari and Egyptian-led efforts to secure another ceasefire have faltered.
US-BACKED AID GROUP HALTS DISTRIBUTIONS
The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli blockade of the enclave, with the rate of young children suffering from acute malnutrition nearly tripling.
Aid distribution was halted on Friday after the US-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said overcrowding had made it unsafe to continue operations. It was unclear whether aid had resumed on Saturday.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral. It says it has provided around 9 million meals so far.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that 350 trucks of humanitarian aid belonging to U.N. and other international relief groups were transferred this week via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.
The war erupted after Hamas-led terrorists took 251 hostages and killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, in the October 7, 2023 attack, Israel’s single deadliest day.
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US Mulls Giving Millions to Controversial Gaza Aid Foundation, Sources Say
Palestinians carry aid supplies which they received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to war-shattered Gaza, according to two knowledgeable sources and two former US officials, a move that would involve the US more deeply in a controversial aid effort that has been beset by violence and chaos.
The sources and former US officials, all of whom requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said that money for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) would come from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is being folded into the US State Department.
The plan has met resistance from some US officials concerned with the deadly shootings of Palestinians near aid distribution sites and the competence of the GHF, the two sources said.
The GHF, which has been fiercely criticized by humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality, began distributing aid last week amid warnings that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine after an 11-week Israeli aid blockade, which was lifted on May 19 when limited deliveries were allowed to resume.
The foundation has seen senior personnel quit and had to pause handouts twice this week after crowds overwhelmed its distribution hubs.
The State Department and GHF did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters has been unable to establish who is currently funding the GHF operations, which began in Gaza last week. The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies to transport aid into Gaza for distribution at so-called secure distribution sites.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that a Chicago-based private equity firm, McNally Capital, has an “economic interest” in the for-profit US contractor overseeing the logistics and security of GHF’s aid distribution hubs in the enclave.
While US President Donald Trump’s administration and Israel say they don’t finance the GHF operation, both have been pressing the United Nations and international aid groups to work with it.
The US and Israel argue that aid distributed by a long-established U.N. aid network was diverted to Hamas. Hamas has denied that.
USAID has been all but dismantled. Some 80 percent of its programs have been canceled and its staff face termination as part of President Donald Trump’s drive to align US foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.
One source with knowledge of the matter and one former senior official said the proposal to give the $500 million to GHF has been championed by acting deputy USAID Administrator Ken Jackson, who has helped oversee the agency’s dismemberment.
The source said that Israel requested the funds to underwrite GHF’s operations for 180 days.
The Israeli government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two sources said that some US officials have concerns with the plan because of the overcrowding that has affected the aid distribution hubs run by GHF’s contractor, and violence nearby.
Those officials also want well-established non-governmental organizations experienced in running aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere to be involved in the operation if the State Department approves the funds for GHF, a position that Israel likely will oppose, the sources said.
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