What did Donald Trump do today?

He helped Matt Gaetz evade an investigation into child prostitution allegations by nominating him for attorney general.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was the subject of a criminal and later House Ethics Committee investigation for child sex trafficking. One of Gaetz's associates, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty in 2021 to six charges including bribery of a public official and sex trafficking of a minor. 

In 2018, Gaetz paid Greenberg $900 via Venmo, listing the name of a sex-trafficked girl in the memo. Greenberg then paid an identical amount three young women, with the payments labeled things like "books" and "tuition" and "school."

In the waning days of the Trump administration, Gaetz desperately sought a pardon from Trump for violations of federal sex trafficking laws.

The House Ethics Committee was set to release its investigative report on the matter on Friday, but today Trump tapped Gaetz to be his next attorney general. Gaetz, who could have stayed in office in the meantime, resigned immediately. This means he is no longer under the jurisdiction of that committee.

It's not clear if Gaetz could be confirmed, even with a 53-vote Republican Senate majority. While he was never criminally charged, the allegations that he paid minors for sex were convincing to many Republicans, too.

Why does this matter?

• The attorney general of the United States shouldn't be a political crony of the president.

• The attorney general also shouldn't be someone credibly accused of sex crimes against minors.