OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President-elect Donald Trump responded swiftly to protests from his followers, many of whom were upset about reports that he may select Mike Rogers to be the director of the FBI.
Dan Scavino, who has been working as a social media director and advisor to Trump for a long time, cleared up the confusion on his X account on Friday morning.
“Just spoke to President Trump regarding Mike Rogers going to the FBI. It’s not happening — In his own words, ‘I have never even given it a thought.’ Not happening,” Scavino wrote.
Rogers, a former FBI agent, congressman, and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, ran unsuccessfully in the U.S. Senate race in Michigan in November. He was a speculated contender for the role after meeting with the Trump transition team at Mar-a-Lago.
Following the acquisition of additional information regarding Rogers and his history inside the intelligence agency, key figures within the MAGA movement began to voice their opposition to the idea.
In 2017, Rogers concluded that the Russians had intervened in the 2016 election, and he warned that this was a “clear and present danger to our democracy.” This led to the resurfacing of old social media statements from Rogers, which were made public after he was reported to be a candidate for the position of FBI director.
Additionally, Rogers was a co-founder of The Alliance for Securing Democracy, which has been referred to by detractors as a “deep state Never Trump” organization. This organization was formed by former national security advisors from the establishment who were responsible for the creation of the Hamilton 68 project.
In spite of the fact that many of the individuals targeted by the controversial operation were journalists or citizens of the United States, social media accounts were targeted as potential sources of Russian disinformation.
🚨BREAKING: President Trump on the possible appointment of Mike Rogers as FBI Director: It’s NOT happening. https://t.co/oXhLryblmN
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 22, 2024
The news comes as Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz removed himself from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.
Gaetz wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had “excellent meetings” with Senators the day prior, but “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
In a post on his Truth Social social media site, Trump called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, is Trump’s nominee to be the next attorney general of the United States, he said Thursday night.
“Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families,” Trump wrote in his announcement.
“Then, as Florida’s first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country. She did such an incredible job, that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first Term — We saved many lives!” Trump added.
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again,” Trump continued. “I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”
CNN Legal Analyst @eliehonig: “Pam Bondi is, without a question, qualified to be Attorney General. She’s been a prosecutor for 20 years in Florida. For 8 of those, she was the Attorney General of the state. That’s a very big, very complicated job‚ and that level of experience is… pic.twitter.com/fGCCkHrHYO
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 22, 2024
Bondi is such a strong pick that far-left MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson warned that Trump’s new pick to lead the Justice Department should spark “fear” among the left because she could execute his agenda.
“Occasionally, attorneys general try to behave like they are not the personal lawyer of the President of the United States. That is completely out the window. Pam Bondi is exactly what I was saying in the last segment that we should all fear, because she’s competent,” he said.
“We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job,” Johnson told Melber, adding, “So if anyone on the Democratic side or anyone who cared about liberty or justice was thinking, ‘Well maybe Matt Gaetz will screw this up and that will give us time,’ no. Pam Bondi knows what she is doing.”
“She knows what she’s doing about immigration. Remember, Florida is one of those states that has been very aggressive about migrants and deportation and moving people to different states and everything else like that. Florida has enacted all sorts of rules and laws to curtail students and what they can do on campuses and finding legal justifications for manipulating education money,” Johnson said.
He continued, “She is a dangerous and effective pick, and that’s frankly worse than what we would have got with Matt Gaetz, even with the deplorable moral background that he has.”
“I guess I’m from the perspective of, I never necessarily thought that Matt Gaetz was a sincere pick. Trump can call all he wants, but I suspect there were many, many people lined up to come after him who won’t be as offensive, who might actually be more effective,” he said.
“So while it might be a loss in the battle, I don’t necessarily think it’s a victory in the war against what may be an AG that ushers in an authoritarian type of presidency that affects the fundamental rights of American citizens,” Johnson added.
WATCH:
MSNBC guest freaks out over Trump picking Pam Bondi for AG
“We should all fear her because she’s competent. We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job She knows what she’s doing about immigration. She is a dangerous and effective pick” pic.twitter.com/o7tXUsfRDC
— Martin Walsh (@martinwalsh__) November 22, 2024
