"A Difference Between Disruption & Destruction": Trey Gowdy On Gaetz Withdrawal
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I'm Kat Timpf. I'm Bill Hemmer. I'm Harris Faulkner. And this is the Fox News Rundown.

Friday, November 22nd, 2024. And Lisa Brady. There's a new nominee for attorney general after the president-elect's first pick dropped out, facing persistent questions about allegations and ethics. It is not incongruent to say that Donald Trump has a mandate to disrupt the status quo, but shouldn't pick incompetent, character-deficient people to do the disruption. We speak with Fox's Trey Gowdy.

I'm Chris Foster. He spent decades in business looking for dollars. Now Donald Trump could be the first president who's really into cryptocurrency. There are questions whether or not he's going to appoint some sort of crypto czar or crypto leader, whatever it is. But there's definitely room for that. I mean, you look at the excitement in the markets, you look at the popularity of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. And I'm Phil Holloway. I've got the final word on the Fox News Rundown. ♪

What a difference a day makes. I'm looking forward to a hearing. Folks have been very supportive. They've been saying we're going to get a fair process. That's former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz after meeting behind closed doors with multiple Republican senators on Wednesday, accompanied by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and sounding optimistic about the effort to help his confirmation process. It's a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration.

But less than 24 hours later, Gates posted online he was withdrawing from consideration, writing that it was clear his confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction. In his own social media post, President-elect Trump thanked Gates for his efforts and by yesterday evening was naming former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his new nominee, calling her an America first fighter who will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime.

The president-elect has vowed reform of what he calls a weaponized Justice Department. Gates had faced a federal sex trafficking probe, which ended with no charges.

But the House Ethics Committee has also been investigating allegations he denies, including sexual misconduct and drug use. And there's an ongoing debate about releasing that panel's report after Gates resigned from the House when he was nominated for attorney general, effectively ending the Ethics Committee's jurisdiction. AG is a unique position. It combines respect for and adherence to the law. There's definitely a policy component. The president...

has the prerogative to enforce his or her priorities when it comes to law enforcement. Trey Gowdy is a former congressman and host of Sunday Night in America and the Trey Gowdy podcast. We spoke after Gates dropped out and before Bondi was nominated. But there's also a character and a morality component to the justice system. It's something that means a lot to me as a former prosecutor and almost all other former prosecutors here.

So it was more than a distraction. It was actually taking away from some really, really phenomenal picks that he made in other areas. And just to set the record straight and no one makes any mistake about it, Gates did not resign to spare the president or spare time. He was bleeding votes. There were far more than four no votes on Matt Gates.

You know, usually in life, the better you get to know someone, the more you like them. It's really the opposite with Matt. The better you get to know him, the less you like him. So this effort by Vice President-elect Vance to kind of introduce him around the Senate was going spectacularly bad. So I don't understand the pick in the first place, especially because there were dozens and dozens of really, really competent, qualified women and men.

But it was a week lost over someone who never should have been nominated in the first place. There are still some questions where Gates is concerned, for instance, whether the House Ethics Committee report on him will be released and whether he'll change his mind about serving in the new Congress because he resigned his current seat when he was nominated, but he was reelected to serve.

Yep. I hope he does. I hope he goes back because then the House Ethics Committee will have jurisdiction and they will release the report. And it is a scathing report that will be the end of his political career to the extent it's not already over. So I don't expect him to do that. The whole thing was a ruse to avoid the ethics report being made public. I think it was going to wind up in the hands of the Senate no matter what.

But the whole I mean, Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio are both from Florida, too. Right. I mean, my geography is not great, but I think Mike Waltz and Marco are both from Florida. They're both picked for the administration. Neither one of them resigned.

So why did Matt resign? Matt resigned because he doesn't want the ethics report to come out. If it goes back to Congress, the ethics report is going to come out. Are you saying that his resignation was a ruse? Are you saying that the Trump nomination of him was part of a ruse? No, I don't think the president would participate in that ruse. I think Matt, you know, for all of the shortcomings he has and they are legion, he's not dumb.

And so what's an honorable exit? Oh, let me get nominated and resign immediately, even though, again, Mike Waltz and Marco Rubio, both Floridians who were also nominated for posts and they didn't resign. It's it's really typical Matt Gaetz. It's too cute by half. Sometimes smart people just think they're smarter than everyone else. In this instance, he wasn't.

He did avoid for now the House ethics report coming out. If he has any future political ambitions at all, at all, this he cannot allow this report to be made public. So if he goes back to the House and he was elected to go back, if he goes back and he's sworn in, then number one, I feel sorry for his colleagues. But number two, House ethics still has jurisdiction over him and the report will come out.

What about the focus for the incoming administration when it comes to the Justice Department? Is the DOJ biased? I mean, the current attorney general. OK, the current attorney general, of course, would deny that.

There's absolutely no question the Department of Justice needs to be reformed. We don't need someone who's going to use it as a political weapon, but just in the other direction. We need someone who's actually cares about justice as a virtue, someone who's competent, qualified, but also has character. So absolutely, there need to be changes made. But you don't fix a corrupt institution by installing a corrupt person.

How would any nominee, though, be able to target weaponization of the Justice Department? I mean, there are certainly career lawyers and others at the DOJ worried about, you know, mass firings at this point. Is it that kind of a shakeup that's necessary? How do you reform the Justice Department? If you don't – well, first of all, most people couldn't name 1 percent of the DOJ employees, right?

Most people can't name any of the assistant U.S. attorneys in their own particular district. Most people can't name the U.S. attorney in their own district. It's the bad apples like the FBI. Ninety percent of the FBI agents you would want is your next door neighbor. You would want them coaching your kids sports teams. It's just the Peter Strucks and the Andy McCabe's and the Jim Comey's and the Jane Baker's and the Lisa Pages and the Kevin Kline Smith's that really have ruined it for the other 90 percent.

And I suspect that's true at DOJ, too. There are a lot of career prosecutors that have never engaged in any politics on either side. It's the political appointees that engage in these horrible games with our justice system. So get rid of all of them. Put people who actually care about law and facts aside.

There are plenty of people at the department now that probably have not engaged in any impropriety, any wrongdoing whatsoever. They literally are career prosecutors.

They survive administration after administration because they only serve one master, and that's a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales. But the political appointees need to be gone. And we don't need a weaponized DOJ, but just on the Republican side. We need a DOJ that is devoid of politics.

The president-elect has promised to disrupt Washington. He does have some picks that are considered disruptors. They still need to get approval from senators, though. Where is kind of the middle ground on these picks, if you will? I mean, is he going to be able to get someone like RFK Jr. through the Senate? I don't know about RFK Jr.,

Here's what I say about presidents and their nominees. Presidents are entitled to deference, but not acquiescence. And there's a difference between being a disruptor

and being a mindless, destructive force. Yes, disrupt. Yes, change the norms. Yes, get rid of people who are incompetent. Get rid of waste and fraud and abuse and people that use their positions for their own personal gain or even political gain. But what percentage of the DOJ or any other department are we talking about? I mean, how many people, for instance, at AJHS could you and I name together?

I mean, maybe two, maybe. And I would need you to name those two because I don't know them. So you got to get in there. You got to see who's doing a good job and who's not, who's political, who's not. So some of those are really, really easy to see. Others are going to require somebody to get in there and take the time to do the rooting out.

Disruption is good. Upheaval may even be good. But destruction for the sake of destruction or politicizing it, but just in a different direction, I don't think is what the president's mandate was. The president's mandate, obviously the mandate wasn't Matt Gaetz. Seventy five percent of the people polled opposed his nomination.

So it is not incongruent to say that Donald Trump has a mandate to disrupt the status quo, but shouldn't pick incompetent, character deficient people to do the disruption. Besides ethical concerns, Gates was responsible. He kind of led the charge on ousting the former House speaker, Mr.

Kevin McCarthy. Is it safe to say that did not sit well with many Republicans? Well, it didn't. Well, it didn't sit well with all but eight of them and four of them are gone now. So Gates and Good are now gone. Only four remain. I mean, you got to remember, 90 plus percent of all Republicans thought Kevin was doing a really good job. I don't think I mean, I talked to a lot of senators actually have more friends in the Senate now than I do the House.

It wasn't what he did to Kevin. I mean, he also said awful things about sitting U.S. senators. And I mean, gratuitously awful. If you're going to go after Tim Scott, something really is wrong with you. Something is wrong with your character if you take a gratuitous shot at Tim Scott. But Matt Gaetz went on The View or he went on a television show to discuss The View to do just that.

So it wasn't really what he did to Kevin as much as it was, number one, he's not qualified. He's never prosecuted a case. He's been in courtrooms before, but never as a prosecutor. It's a lack of qualification, a lack of character. And that's even without seeing what's in the House ethics report. When and if they ever see that, I'd be shocked if anybody voted for him. I do want to ask you about...

the suggestion that recess appointments may be needed, depending on how all of this goes. Do you think that's something that could really, you know, sort of come back to bite Republicans in the long run if they go down that road? Yeah, I'll tell you how old I am. I am old enough to remember when Republicans didn't like recess appointments. In fact, I'm pretty sure we went to court to challenge some of President Obama's recess appointments.

The recess appointment clause was put in back before we had airplanes and automobiles. I mean, it took a long time to get to Congress. So you didn't want to leave a vacancy. It doesn't take that long to get back to Congress now. You just hop on, you know, a bird that actually has engines now. So I would I would let the Senate vote.

Have a chance at doing advice and consent is also constitutional. The president has constitutional powers, including recess appointment. But advice and consent is constitutional, too. So give them a chance to do what you've asked them to do in an expeditious way. And only if there is mindless obstruction by the Democrats.

or this foot dragging, then you can entertain other options. But I really think recess appointments, it undercuts the legitimacy of the person who ultimately gets the job. It's only for two years. Give the Senate a chance to do its constitutionally mandated job before we start talking about recess appointments. Former Congressman Trey Gowdy, host of Sunday Night in America and the Trey Gowdy podcast. Thank you very much for your time. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

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I'm Dana Perino. This week on Perino on Politics, I'm joined by the co-founder of The Daily Wire and host of The Ben Shapiro Show, Ben Shapiro. Available now on FoxNewsPodcast.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. This is Phil Holloway with your Fox News commentary coming up.

With another opportunity to shake things up, President-elect Trump has some different ideas for the economy and federal government finances. There's his Doge White House advisory group looking into cutting waste and regulations, which now has the support of a congressional caucus being put together by Florida House Republican Aaron Bean. They have to have worker bees in Congress.

to get the job done. And an actual House Oversight Subcommittee plans to work with Doge, chaired by Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer from Kentucky on Fox. They've got willing partners in Congress this time. We've got a Republican House and a Republican Senate. There are a lot of things that Republicans disagree on in Washington. We've seen that play out over the last two years, over the last decade. But one thing we all agree on is we can't continue to spend one and a half

trillion dollars a year more than we take in. And we all agree that this government is broken in Washington, D.C. Doge stands for Department of Government Efficiency. It's also the name of a cryptocurrency promoted by unofficial Trump advisor, tech billionaire Elon Musk. And cryptocurrency prices have shot up on news that President-elect Trump may have someone in charge of White House crypto policy for the first time. He said at the annual Bitcoin conference in Nashville in July, this is the steel industry of 100 years ago. I'm laying out

my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world. And we'll get it done. The Trump family is backing a crypto platform where users can borrow, lend and invest. It's popular, right? And he knows that it's popular with younger voters and it's popular with some members of his family, apparently, uh, Baron Trump and others. Sandra Smith is the co-anchor of America's newsroom on Fox news channel weekdays, one to 3 PM Eastern. Look,

Look, obviously, he might be a pretty traditional guy or come from a pretty traditional background, but he knows that voters are looking for other ways, especially with inflation. People have been looking for alternative forms of payment. So this is obviously a non-traditional monetary way. The question would be if...

President Trump is not as informed on it as those around him who want it. Who will he pick to head up a bigger push at the White House level with this? So right now, as far as the transition team is concerned, there are questions whether or not he's going to appoint some sort of crypto czar or crypto leader, whatever it is. But there's definitely room for that. I mean, you look at the excitement in the markets, you look at the popularity of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin.

there is demand for it. And certainly he, he listens and there could be a response to it. I mean, I know the value is again through the roof. What about usage? Is it becoming more commonplace?

Absolutely. More credible, more trusted. Play video games. I mean, it's a digital currency, right? And we are in the digital age. I mean, absolutely everything has gone digital. I don't know about you, wherever I go, I see it offered oftentimes in New York City. It's definitely catering to a younger base and a younger user. So it's going to be pertaining to sort of

different cultures, different environments. But this definitely, the demand is out there. And if it's not available to use for purchase in certain areas, we are seeing people are asking for it. I wonder how, I mean, dollar, the value of a dollar swings, obviously, but not like this. And it seems to be, is the volatility still there or is it...

a little more reliable. Well, anytime that you get prices that high, just like the stock market right now, I mean, you have like a 500 point move in the Dow. Well, that means a lot less when you're over 40,000 in the Dow. You look at Bitcoin at 96,000 that it is today. Well, then you get bigger moves. So there's more volatility, the higher the price gets. So is it volatile? Absolutely. But it's a more thinly traded market than some of your more traditional investments.

Thanksgiving, a few days away. Thanksgiving meal prices. They put out this thing every year. The federal government, I guess the federal government, somebody puts out this list every year of how much the traditional meal will cost. It's cheaper than it was last year. Well, that's good. Yep. Not as cheap as it was in 2019. Where are we with...

Where are we with grocery inflation? The growth of inflation has slowed somewhat, although I think the last reading we got, it had ticked back up just a bit. But as far as prices, they have not come down. And what we have seen...

In the history of this country, when prices go up, it takes a long time for them to come back down, and sometimes they never do. So you're still looking at prices under this current administration. Over the past four years, prices are up 20%, 25%. Whether it's energy, food, rent, prices are just still up there. So this is something people are battling every single day.

As long as wages are not going up to meet the rise in prices that we've seen over the past four years, this is a struggle for everyday Americans. So this has to be a priority to get those prices down. When it comes to Thanksgiving, thanks for noting that we're a few days away. You know, I think it's sneaking up on a lot of us. But I mean, think about what goes into your Thanksgiving meal. I mean, everybody sees their bread prices, their milk prices, their fruit and vegetable prices. Produce is sky high when you go to the grocery store.

Meat prices, forget about it. But hopefully we can all find a way to enjoy our Thanksgiving meal. I know people have tried to manage their way through. Budgeting, obviously, is key for so many American families right now. And we don't want to skip our turkey Thanksgiving. I guess people might find out where cranberry prices are once a year. They're up. I just bought a can of cranberries the other day. I was making a recipe, and I thought to myself, like, I remember this used to be, like, you know, less than $1.

Prices are up there. It depends on where you live in the country, but just about everything has gone up in price. Are you an actual cranberry person or a jelly person? Cranberry for sure. How about you? I have an affinity for either. The jelly one with the ridges from the can just reminds me of grandma. So you just want to undo the can, just roll it right out on the plate, leave the ridges there and just kind of slice into it, put it on top of the turkey. Love it. Now I'm excited. President Biden did these world summits recently.

his last, his final world summits of a, you know, whatever, 50-year-long career. And what struck me the most was the coverage of these summits was, oh, yeah, he's the president of the United States. For all the talk for months and months and months about Donald Trump and previously Kamala Harris...

He's really receded into the background, I think, for a lot of people. And in real life. There are some asking whether or not he should be carrying out the final days, weeks, and months of his presidency. We'll let that play out as well. Perhaps the most epic moment of his travels recently was just...

Oh, yeah, he's the president. But oh, yeah, he also isn't talking to the press. Remind you, there is a reporter. I don't know if you've seen the footage. She's yelling on the tarmac. Please, Mr. President, please take a question from us. We are not seeing him.

We had a White House reporter this morning say we're not seeing him, we're not hearing from him. So in his final days, weeks, moments of his presidency, he has chosen not to give transparency to what is happening in those final days. Bill Clinton said something that I thought was interesting the other day. He was talking to CBS and talking about Kamala Harris losing the election, among other things, and he predicts

or thinks that the USA is likely to elect a female, a woman president, if she's a conservative Republican. Just wondering if you had any thoughts on it. I have no idea. Some people said that a black Republican would be more likely to be elected than Barack Obama came along. Maybe it just depends. Maybe you need the right woman. Well, based on the outcome of the last election, I think one part of that is absolutely true. And somebody more conservative based on the issues that are top of mind for American voters today, and that is immigration.

That is the economy. And right now, voters say that they are favoring, and they did so in this past election, Trump, the Republican, on these issues. People don't like crime that is happening in their small towns and big cities. They don't like the immigration crisis that has inundated towns and cities all over this country, coming fresh off the Lake and Riley sentencing of her killer in that handbag.

heinous crime that played out in Georgia when she was just a nursing student out for a run. People see this happening and it's happening far from the border and they know that we need change. And so when it comes to Bill Clinton's words, perhaps it's a woman, but perhaps he's most right about it being the conservative conservative.

Thanksgiving plans? Me? Yeah. Oh. Do you like to share? Anything fun? Any traditions? I am hosting. Okay. Okay. You cooking? I cook. I love to cook. I think it's one of those things, for those of us who never have time to, I find it to be an incredibly relaxing thing. I want everybody to kind of do their thing. I give everybody a job. Yep. Gather around the kitchen island. You're cutting the, you're making the salad, right? Husband knows his role with the turkey. So you're not a get out of my kitchen cook.

There might be moments of that. I won't lie. Sometimes I really need to focus. You know, there's certain moments where, like, timing is everything. That's the hardest part. Because there's so many things going. Are you cooking? I am not cooking this year. I'll be here. I'll be working this year. I think we're just going to, like, get a pre-cooked meal.

grocery store meals. That could be good. Yeah, yeah, it's fine. But you're right, that is tricky. Getting it all to come out hot is hard. It's very stressful and it turns me into a bit of a get out of my kitchen right now. Just let me figure this out.

And then we all have to sit down and enjoy it and have fun. And then maybe a nap on the couch? You didn't know what was coming at you today, did you? I didn't. Nap on the couch is always good. A little football. I especially like a long walk after Thanksgiving meal. Good for you. Yeah. Sandra Smith, co-anchor of America's Newsroom on Fox, 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern. You can see her lots of other times. This was a pleasure.

And now, some good news with Tanya J. Powers. A North Carolina Fraser fir tree that survived Hurricane Helene will bring the spirit of the holidays to the White House. Cartner's Christmas tree farm in Newland, North Carolina, has been chosen to continue the tradition of providing a farm-grown Christmas tree for the president's house. Newland is in Avery County, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene in September.

The North Carolina Christmas Tree Association reports that thousands of trees in the state were damaged or destroyed during the hurricane, and recovery is expected to take years. Growers there produce nearly a quarter of the real Christmas trees grown in the U.S. every year. Kartner's farm was not immune to the flooding and gusty winds brought by the hurricane, but owner Sam Kartner says being selected to supply the White House Christmas tree is an honor, not just for his family, but for the entire region.

The tree is often the centerpiece of the Blue Room in the White House, which is traditionally used for receptions and other large ceremonies. This year's 20-foot tree is expected to arrive next week, when a horse-drawn carriage will carry it to be inspected by the First Lady. For more information on how you can support Western North Carolina this holiday season, go to visitnc.com. Tanya J. Powers, Fox News.

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I'm Emily Campagno, host of the Fox True Crime Podcast. This week, I'm joined by retired San Francisco Police Captain Yolanda Williams as she details her escape from the People's Temple cult. Available now on foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Subscribe to this podcast at foxnewspodcast.com.

It's time for your Fox News commentary. Phil Holloway. What's on your mind? Lakin Riley died at the hands of a violent monster. Joe Biden and the open borders industrial complex, including leftist sanctuary city policies, led her right into his hands. Among those policies, of course, is that of the feckless Soros style Athens district attorney who entered office vowing never to seek the death penalty.

Jose Ibarra entered the United States illegally. He received taxpayer-funded flights. He got housing and even protection from law enforcement upon his arrival. But when he stalked and he murdered an innocent nursing student on the campus of the University of Georgia, rather than eradicating the world of this deranged, depraved lunatic,

The now-defeated district attorney in Athens, Georgia, she made sure the taxpayers, of course, will fund his room and board for the rest of his natural life. This monster, of course, who killed Lake and Riley is off to serve now the rest of his natural life locked away in a Georgia prison. The judge sentenced him to two life sentences without parole and then some.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the illegal Venezuelan immigrant named Jose Ibarra, he'll never breathe free air again. But the question that remains for so many is why did he not face the death penalty? Why would Athens District Attorney Gonzalez be so callous and indifferent to the life and the memory of Lake and Riley?

After all, Georgia's death penalty law does provide for its use in the worst of the worst murder cases, and certainly this one qualifies, but only if the district attorney elects to pursue it. In Georgia, to qualify for the death penalty, there must exist what we call special circumstances.

The law says those circumstances are as follows. They're aggravating circumstances that the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Things like the offender has a prior record of a felony conviction or the offender committed a crime while committing another capital felony. But the ones that apply, see, is this. Clearly, the offender did commit –

This heinous murder while he committed another capital felony, that specifically being aggravated battery and, of course, kidnapping. But the thing that really makes this one qualify under Georgia law is that the crime was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman. So when you apply those terms.

aggravating factors to the case, it clearly would qualify for the death penalty. This, of course, wasn't some ordinary robbery. It wasn't even a drug deal gone bad. This was a truly sick and vile and unimaginably heartbreaking case. This cold-blooded killer, he went hunting for someone to rape. And when she refused to be his victim, she fought him for nearly 20 minutes. She fought for her life. She fought for her dignity.

He even strangled her so hard that the blood vessels in her eyes burst open. He tried to remove her clothing, and he, of course, left her there covered in debris. If ever there was anybody that deserved to forfeit their life, there's a strong case that it's none other than

Jose Ibarra. The message should be loud and clear. If you come here illegally and you violently murder one of our daughters, you will pay with your life. This animal does not deserve three hots and a cot for the rest of his life at taxpayer expense. He's irredeemably morally depraved. He cannot be rehabilitated. Georgia, and in fact, America, deserves restitution and retribution. Quite frankly, Lake and Riley deserves retribution.

substantially more justice than Athens District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez allowed her. I am Philip Holloway, attorney and legal analyst.

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This is Jimmy Fallon inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast at foxacrossamerica.com.