US election updates: Speaker ‘strongly’ advises against releasing ethics report on Gaetz

Ex-Republican congresswoman describes Gaetz as ‘dangerously unqualified’published at 16:32 Greenwich Mean Time November 14

We’re now hearing from a former Republican congresswoman, Barbara Comstock, who tells the BBC that Matt Gaetz is “completely and dangerously unqualified” to be attorney general, after being nominated for the role by President-elect Donald Trump yesterday.

“Matt Gaetz does not have the character, the integrity, the judgment or the independence to lead this major law enforcement agency that oversees the FBI, antitrust, the civil division, the criminal division — this is a huge agency,” she said.

Comstock represented Virginia for Republicans in the House of Representatives from 2015-19 and was director of public affairs at the Department of Justice (DoJ) from 2002-03.

Gaetz “has no management experience” and has not been a prosecutor or worked as a private lawyer before, she told the BBC’s Newshour program – adding that he is “completely and dangerously unqualified” for the post.

Comstock also comments on the fact that Gaetz has been arrested before and has mugshots — “like Donald Trump” — that can be found through a simple online search. “Great thing for kids: take your mug shots and you too can be a world leader,” she says.