20 People Who Could Be Trump's Next Attorney General - The Messenger

1/4/24, 6:10 PM 20 People Who Could Be Trump's Next Attorney General - The Messenger
Politics.
TRENDING NOW | Harvard’s Claudine Gay Becomes the Victim in a Laughable Media Defense
20 People Who Could Be Trump’s Next Attorney General

The list of possible second-term picks to lead DOJ includes Capitol Hill allies, state attorneys general, MAGA firebrands and the former
president’s personal lawyers
Published 12/08/23 05:00 AM ET | Updated 12/08/23 06:10 AM ET
Darren Samuelsohn and Warren Rojas
Win McNamee/ Getty Images
A
good many extreme loyalists sound nowadays like they’re auditioning for
Donald Trump’s second-term attorney general.
Why not?
With Election Day less than a year away and Trump’s chances of winning around 50-
50, pretty much anyone who knows how to get on the former president’s radar is
playing their part with public statements and actions in defense of Trump and
challenging the Biden administration.
By The Messenger’s count, at least 20 names are being bandied about for the attorney
general job, though that’s in no way indicative of the possibilities given this is Trump
and some of the aspiring future DOJ leaders are the ones speaking out on their own
behalf.
https://themessenger.com/politics/trump-second-term-attorney-general-possible-picks 1/26
Trump aides are downplaying the talk of a second-term Cabinet — “Wayyyy too early
for that…” a senior campaign aide replied when asked recently about the possibilities
— even as Trump himself muses openly on the stump about how he’d call up his
attorney general with requests on who should be investigated and prosecuted.
Whether Trump would even nominate an AG at the start of his term is an open
question and depends a good bit on the outcome of the 2024 Senate elections. A
continued Democratic majority means anyone controversial whom Trump wants in
the AG job wouldn’t get confirmed, opening the door to long-term acting leadership at
the DOJ. A Republican majority would change the dynamic, though the GOP would
need to tack on enough of a buffer to overcome any moderate holdouts like Susan
Collins or Lisa Murkowski who might blanche at a too-extreme nominee.
All those caveats aside, here’s a look at the list of AG possibilities the Messenger
compiled. It includes Capitol Hill conservative firebrands, state attorneys general,
first-term loyalists and some of Trump’s personal attorneys.
Read More
Texas House Votes 121-23 to Impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton
Attorney General Ken Paxton Fully Acquitted by Texas Senate
Texas House Panel Recommends Impeaching State Attorney General Ken Paxton
Attorney General Ken Paxton to Speak at Labor Day Picnic in Texas as Impeachment Trial Looms
Trump Backs Texas AG Paxton Amid Impeachment Trial: ‘One of the Toughest and Best Attorney
Generals in the Country’
Greg Abbott Appoints Temporary Attorney General After State House Voted to Impeach Ken Paxton
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) speaks during Supreme Court Justice nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Senate Judiciary Committee
confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice in the Hart Senate Office Building on October 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. Erin Schaff-
Pool/Getty Images
Mike Lee: The 52-year old Utah senator has major league legal chops. He’s a former
federal prosecutor and Samuel Alito Supreme Court law clerk whose father served at
DOJ during the Ford administration and again in the first term of the Reagan
administration as U.S. solicitor general. “I hope enough of that rubbed off on Mike
Lee. I think it might have,” said Stuart Gerson, a longtime DOJ official who served
with the senator’s father, Rex Lee.
The Lee of 2023 is a true Trump backer, a Second Amendment supporter who
questioned Jan. 6 prosecutions and who wrote this week after hearing testimony from
the Trump-appointed FBI director that the bureau “needs to be cleaned out with a
wire brush.”
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on May 16, 2023. ANDREW CABALLERO-
REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Josh Hawley: The 42-year old Missouri senator would bring legal credentials of his
own to the Justice Department after serving as a law clerk for Chief Justice John
Roberts and more recently for two years as the Show-Me State’s attorney general.
His Trump ties include challenging the 2020 election results and voting to overturn
Biden’s victory. In an interview, Hawley played the humble card when asked if he’d be
interested in serving as Trump’s attorney general.
“I can’t imagine being in a cabinet for anybody,” the Missouri Republican, who is up
for reelection next fall, told The Messenger of the theoretical job offer.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to members of the press after a Senate Republican luncheon at Russell Senate Office Building March
24, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Ted Cruz: The 52-year old Texan was his state’s top law enforcement official before
winning his Senate seat in the 2012 election. He’s made significant amends with
Trump since challenging him in the 2016 primaries, and he has plenty of fans in
MAGALand.
“I love Ted Cruz. I think Ted Cruz gets it. Very smart and tough,” said Mike Davis, the
former Senate GOP aide who played a key role pushing more than 200 Trump judicial
nominees through Senate confirmation.
Cruz’s next year will be focused on his own reelection campaign, which Texas
Democrats envision making competitive despite not winning a single statewide race
since 1994.
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) listens during a news conference on the U.S. Supreme Court as
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) looks on at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Lindsey Graham: The 68-year old South Carolina senator is a former prosecutor and
defense attorney in the U.S. Air Force and current ranking member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Trump supporters aren’t sure what to make of Graham as a possible Cabinet pick.
They have a back-and-forth relationship that at varying times has had the senator
being Trump’s opening act at rallies and his best golfing buddy or outright dismissing
Trump or warning of his impending political demise.
Tom Cotton speaks to reporters after he attended a closed-door briefing for Senators about the Chinese spy balloon at the U.S. Capitol
February 9, 2023 in Washington D.C. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Tom Cotton: The 45-year old Arkansas Republican is more often mentioned as a
future Defense secretary given his background as a former military officer who served
in Iraq and Afghanistan. That said, his name does get mentioned for AG too given his
work on the Senate Judiciary Committee and outspoken criticism of Democrats and
the Biden-led Justice Department.
A former senior Trump DOJ official said Cotton would be “a great AG” who the former
president “views as on the team” and also looks good on TV. The famously tight-
lipped senator initially dodged The Messenger’s attorney general-related queries, but
eventually agreed to hear out the whole premise.
Upon being quizzed about whether he, or any of his Judiciary Committee colleagues,
could take the heat as an aggrieved Trump’s chief legal official, Cotton couldn’t hide
the knowing grin that spread across his face.
“No comment,” the Arkansas Republican said, delivering his standard response to
nosy congressional reporters.
J.D. Vance questions former executives of failed banks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill May 16, 2023 in
Washington D.C. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
J.D. Vance: The 39-year old freshman Ohio Republican has Trump to thank for
pushing him over the edge in the 2022 Senate primaries. The Yale law school grad and
“Hillbilly Elegy” author has been returning the favor in the Senate as one of the
former president’s biggest defenders.
Since June, Vance has kept a Senate hold blocking all Biden DOJ nominees because of
the “unprecedented political prosecution” of Trump. Earlier this week, Vance wrote
Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggesting a
Washington Post columnist should face federal investigation after publishing an
article warning of a “Trump dictatorship” should he win a second term.
Axios added Vance to its list for a potential Trump VP, though the media outlet also
noted he might want to stay in the Senate as “Trump’s hammer.” His commentary
about the Trump legal docket nonetheless puts him square in the mix for the attorney
general job, too.
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves the U.S. Capitol after successfully leading a vote to remove Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker
of the House on October 3, 2023 in Washington, DC. McCarthy was removed by a motion to vacate, an effort led by a handful of
conservative members of his own party. Win McNamee/Getty Images
Matt Gaetz: The 41-year old Florida congressman has won Trump’s affection over the
years for his rabid attacks on any critics and most recently earned another set of
stripes by leading the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Gaetz has publicly mused about getting the appointment to be attorney general,
though he’s also separately been in the mix amid discussions about running for
governor in 2026.
Here’s Gaetz to Newsmax in August: “We could send criminal referrals to the
Department of Justice, we go take the White House back, and you never know, David,
it may be an Attorney General Matt Gaetz down the road or someone of my liking who
will be there to actually enforce the law and provide the accountability.”
Asked recently about his interest in the AG job, Gaetz told the Messenger, “I don't
think that Senate confirmation would be in the cards for me.”
Ohio Republican Jim Jordan leaves a meeting with opponents to his flailing speaker campaign at the Rayburn House Office Building on
Oct. 19, 2023, in Washington. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Jim Jordan: The 59-year old Ohio congressman chairs the House Judiciary
Committee, where he’s part of the leadership team behind the ongoing impeachment
inquiry of President Joe Biden and also tangled with Fulton County District Attorney
Fani WIllis over her criminal indictment of Trump.
One of Trump’s closest Capitol Hill confidants, Jordan had the former president’s
backing to succeed McCarthy as House speaker before an internal revolt sunk his
promotion.
His name comes up as an attorney general, though Senate confirmation remains a

sticking point. Asked whether Jordan might be able to squeak through the Senate,
Gaetz responded that while he’s a “big fan” of the Ohio Republican, “I don't know if
that's anything he's interested in.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. Drew
Angerer/Getty Images
Ken Paxton: Trump took credit in September for helping the 60-year old Texas
attorney general survive an impeachment trial over allegations he abused his office.
It’s the latest wrinkle in a long-standing relationship dating back to Paxton’s 2016
support for Trump’s campaign and that continued into 2020 when Texas’s AG took
the lead in trying unsuccessfully to get the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the 2020
election results in four battleground states that supported Biden.
As far as Paxton’s future plans, he told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a
September post-impeachment interview he wouldn’t rule out a 2026 primary
challenge to Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
Brenna Bird, then-Republican nominee for attorney general of Iowa, speaks during a campaign event at Sioux Gateway Airport on
November 3, 2022 in Sioux City, Iowa. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Brenna Bird: Iowa’s 47-year old attorney general rode the Trump campaign plane in
October into her home state as part of her endorsement roll-out for the former
president. A month later, Bird co-led a coalition of 18 Republican state attorneys
general who filed an amicus brief in federal appeals court defending the former
president’s bid to remove a gag order tied to his criminal case in Washington, D.C.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey launched an investigation into a safe company after they gave a safe code to the FBI. Missouri
Office of the Attorney General
Andrew Bailey: Missouri’s 42-year old attorney general is generating attention with a
number of culture war moves as he runs for a full term in 2024, including saying he’d
investigate a dispute between X owner Elon Musk and liberal advocacy group Media
Matters.
Bailey has checked a number of other boxes that put him in the mix, including on
abortion rights, challenging Biden-era environmental measures and signing onto the
gag order brief led by Bird and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who
touts himself as “one of President Trump’s most vocal supporters” in fundraising
messages for his 2024 gubernatorial run.
Former senior adviser Stephen Miller to President Donald Trump speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on March 4, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty
Images)
Stephen Miller: The architect of major components of Trump’s 2016 campaign, his
White House policies and now the staffing infrastructure for a second term, the 38-
year old Miller could be a shocker of a pick for attorney general.
“He’s a serious person and he understands how the system works,” Tucker Carlson,
the former Fox News host who has been floated as a potential Trump running mate,
told Axios.
Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General, speaks during a press conference announcing a class action lawsuit against big tech
companies at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 07, 2021 in Bedminster, New Jersey. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Pam Bondi: The 58-year old former Florida attorney general has been a longtime
fixture in the Trump orbit. She joined the White House defense team during the first
impeachment proceedings, arguing at the Senate trial in January 2020 that Joe Biden
should be investigated for corruption
Bondi has been busy since the end of Trump’s first term. She’s a partner in the Florida
lobbying powerhouse Ballard Partners and in September 2021 replaced Corey
Lewandowski atop the pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Action.
Bondi also has a role in the dark money America First Policy Institute, where she’s co-
chair of the Center for Law and Justice.
Jeffrey Clark Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Jeffrey Clark: No other name on this list stands out quite like the 56-year old Clark,
the former senior DOJ official who Trump tried to make attorney general to help him
overturn the 2020 election results.
Clark now stands accused of two felonies as fellow co-defendant with the former
president in the Georgia criminal case and he’s also widely seen to be unindicted co-
conspirator No. 4 in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election-interference case.
The ex-assistant attorney general of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources

Division has pleaded not guilty in Fulton County and could eventually stand trial
alongside Trump. He’s also facing disbarment proceedings in Washington, D.C.
beginning in January.
Throughout it all, Clark remains one of the former president’s most staunch
defenders. His feisty X feed routinely backs Trump and clobbers opponents, while
from his perch at the Center for Renewing America Clark in May 2023 penned an
analysis titled “The U.S. Justice Department is not independent” that’s widely seen as
a second term playbook.
“There’d have to be some people with some principles and some courage in order to
support someone as controversial as Jeff,” said Myron Ebell, a climate change denier
who has long known Clark from environmental policy circles and a senior fellow at
the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “But if you know him he’s about as solid a guy as
you can get. In my experience, and I’m not a lawyer, he has none of the Washington
insider sliminess that many lawyers here have. I think he’d make a great AG.”
Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe follows behind U.S. President Donald Trump, as they depart on the South Lawn of the
White House, on December 12, 2020 in Washington, DC. Al Drago/Getty Images
John Ratcliffe: The 58-year old former Texas congressman and Trump first-term
director of national intelligence gets mentioned for many different possible posts in a
second term.
Axios recently listed him as a contender for CIA director, Defense secretary, back at
DNI or even vice president. Given his background as a former George W. Bush-era
DOJ official and interim U.S. attorney, his name also comes up in interviews for
attorney general too.
Whether Trump would pick him is another story. According to testimony that former
White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson gave to the House January 6 Committee,
Ratcliffe was among the staffers who didn’t want to get involved in Trump’s bid to
overturn the 2020 election results.
President Donald Trump (R) reaches over Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan to shake hands with acting Attorney General
Matthew Whitaker during a meeting of Trump's cabinet in the Cabinet Room at the White House February 12, 2019 in Washington,
DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Matthew Whitaker: The 54-year old conservative lawyer had the acting AG job under
Trump for a little more than three months between Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr eras.
He’s now a frequent stump speaker for the Trump 2024 campaign who has hosted
fellow first term alumni via his “Liberty & Justice” podcast.
Former Chief of Staff to the Department of Defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport on October 08,
2022 in Minden, Nevada. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Kash Patel: The 43-year old attorney played a number of key roles during the first
Trump administration, including as a House aide who challenged the FBI’s Trump-
Russia investigation and then as a White House staffer who near the very end of the
term was acting chief of staff to the Defense secretary. Post-presidency, Patel is
everywhere: Pro-Trump podcaster, author of a children’s book that attacks the
underlying premises behind many first-term Trump-era scandals, and an aide under
his former boss Devin Nunes at the umbrella company for the Trump-branded Truth
Social.
He could have one of many roles in a second Trump term. Donald Trump Jr. recently
suggested his dad pick Patel as an acting attorney general, and Steve Bannon on
Tuesday tossed out the additional idea of CIA director. Patel replied that he’d put
together a team of “all-American patriots” that would “go out and find the
conspirators — not just in the government but in the media.”
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow speaks to the press near the Senate subway following a vote in the Senate
impeachment trial that acquitted President Donald Trump of all charges on February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. Sarah Silbiger/Getty
Images
Jay Sekulow: The 67-year old conservative lawyer and founder of the American Center
for Law and Justice built his reputation around arguing religious freedom cases at the
Supreme Court.
He’s also one of the few people on this AG list who has a longstanding relationship as
a personal attorney for Trump — to the point he was often referred to as the
president’s “TV lawyer.”
Sekulow was at Trump’s side throughout the Mueller probe and did a bulk of the
arguing during the first Senate impeachment trial, prompting a POLITICO profile at
the time with allies suggesting he’d make a great second term Supreme Court
nominee. While Sekulow has not been party to the former president’s defense in
either his criminal or civil fraud cases, he’s right there helping to coordinate on the
legal and PR strategy fighting back against attempts to remove Trump from the 2024
presidential ballot via the 14th Amendment.
It’s hard to see Sekulow entering the government from his perch leading ACLJ,
though that didn’t stop some from insisting his name should be in the mix for DOJ.
Lawyer Christopher Kise looks on as former US President Donald Trump attends the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York on
October 4, 2023. JEENAH MOON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Chris Kise: There aren’t many lawyers spending as much time with Trump these days
as this 58-year old defense attorney. Kise is representing the former president in both
his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York and the federal criminal case tied to
mishandling classified documents in South Florida.
He’s also worked in government as Florida solicitor general under then-Gov. Jeb Bush
and then later as a legal advisor to both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist when he
was a Republican governor.
Mike Davis is a former aide to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa (pictured here). Shannon Finney/Getty Images
Mike Davis: During Trump’s first term, this 46-year old former aide to Sen. Chuck
Grassley played a vital role as founder of the Article III Project in pushing more than
200 conservative-minded federal judicial nominees through the confirmation process
and into lifetime jobs.
Since Trump’s presidency ended, Davis has been among his most outspoken
supporters on all-things legal: via X and appearing on all manner of conservative
television shows taking issue with the expanding Trump criminal docket while
simultaneously hounding the Biden administration.
Donald Trump Jr. certainly is a fan, musing during a recent episode of his online
show ‘Triggered’ that both Davis and Kash Patel should be considered for the acting
AG job.
“You almost have to. Just put them in as interim even just to send that shot across the
bow over the swamp. Be like, you want to play?” the former president’s oldest adult
son said.
For his part, Davis said his rhetoric is mostly about trolling Democrats and reporters
and he doubts he’d actually go into a new administration.
“I’d get one vote. A charity vote by Chuck Grassley,” he said. “There’s no chance I’m
going to be the AG or acting AG. I say that to troll people. It’d be a glorious three week
reign of terror.”
JIM JORDAN DONALD TRUMP
Read next
Trump Second-Term Plans Would Put His Attorney General in Familiar Tight Spots — Assuming He Even Picks One
Sponsored Content Recommended by
FROM THE WEB FROM THE WEB
[Photos] These Grandchildren Look Exactly Like Their If You Need To Kill Time On Your Computer, This Vintage
Celebrity Grandparents Game Is A Must-Have.
Investing Magazine Play the top-rated strategy game now. No install needed!
Forge of Empires
[Photos] Vintage Ads So [Photos] Passed at 53, 'Leave It to

Appalling Yet Hilarious They… Beaver' Actor Stanley Couldn't…
Last Night On Show Snob
FROM THE WEB
[Photos] AI Recreated how These Dead Stars Would

Have Aged
Last Night On
[Photos] Bing Crosby's Two Sons [Photos] 27+ Disgusting Facts

Took Their Own Lives After Gary… About Life In The Wild West
Show Snob Culturess
How to Spot the Five Signs of

Unreliable News Content

20 People Who Could Be Trump's Next Attorney General - The Messenger

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

20 People Who Could Be Trump's Next Attorney General - The Messenger

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1/4/24, 6:10 PM 20 People Who Could Be Trump's Next Attorney General - The Messenger