Trump is struggling to find an attorney general candidate who ‘ticks all the boxes’
President-elect Donald Trump is struggling to find a candidate for attorney general who checks all his boxes even after taking on the opinions of his closest advisors and aides.
The former president has already met with several candidates for the post, including at least one on Tuesday, according to CNN. Trump currently has no favorites for the post, the network noted.
While Trump’s relationships with many of his cabinet secretaries in his first administration ended badly, few were as chaotic as his failed connections with his attorneys general – Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr. Trump fired Sessions after he recused himself from the Russia investigation and Barr eventually resigned after the 2020 election amid Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Many Department of Justice staffers are concerned that Trump’s return to the White House will lead to a loss of independence for the department, which has been the norm in post-Watergate America, per CNN.
Both current and former officials at the department foresee that some may leave, be forced out, or be pushed to the sidelines of a Trump DoJ.
Conservative attorney Mark Paoletta, who’s close to Trump, wrote on X on Monday that “if these career DoJ employees won’t implement President Trump’s program in good faith, they should leave. Those employees who engage in so-called ‘resistance’ against the duly-elected President’s lawful agenda would be subverting American democracy.”
Both Trump and members of his team have said that the attorney general is the most vital cabinet role if he’s to be successful in delivering on his campaign promises relating to an extensive immigration crackdown and investigating his opponents.
Last month, Trump’s VP pick JD Vance told ABC: “The most important person in government, I think, after the president for this cycle is going to be the attorney general.”
Some Justice Department staff, such as Special Counsel Jack Smith, may be targeted for revenge in the second Trump term, CNN claims. Others include attorneys connected to investigations linked to Trump, such as the probe into the Capitol riot, according to Trump and some of his allies.
People at the FBI are also likely to be on the chopping block after the agency carried out the legal search of Mar-a-Lago in connection to the investigation into the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump has indicated that he’s set to remove FBI Director Christopher Wray from his post after appointing him in 2017. Wray came into the role after Trump fired his predecessor James Comey.
While Wray is set to resign instead, according to CNN, FBI officials are first trying to ascertain if Trump will stick to his promise of firing him.
Appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience just days before the election, Trump lauded the FBI rank and file while bashing the agency’s leadership.
“FBI is great. The people there, not the top people, the people, the real people, the people that work there,” he said at the time. “It’s like the real generals that I told you about that defeated ISIS in record time. The FBI guys are great.”
Some federal government officials are concerned about the Supreme Court ruling from this summer which boosted a president’s legal protections as it pertains to how Trump may deal with the department.
During his first stint in the White House, Trump grew frustrated with some of his own appointees as they worked against him when he wanted to launch investigations into his political opponents such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.
One official at the Justice Department told CNN: “The handcuffs are going to be off now.”