Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has selected Rep. Matt Gaetz to be the 87th attorney general of the United States, filling the critical top law enforcement position with a Florida lawmaker who has been under investigation by the department he would be leading.

The appointment of the next attorney general comes at a critical juncture for the Justice Department, which has spent the entirety of the Trump era under attack by the president-elect, who has been criminally charged with four federal felonies in connection with his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. That case is already winding down.