What Gaetz’s withdrawal from AG consideration reveals: legal expert

Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-FL) announcement that he would bow out from consideration to serve as Attorney General Thursday revealed an "unmistakeable lesson" for President-Elect Donald Trump, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.

"Donald Trump is not a monarch," Cheney emphasizes. "Rather than showcasing Trump’s absolute power over his GOP allies, it revealed his limits," the Politico reporter submits.

"While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition," Gaetz wrote in a statement via X.

READ MORE: Top Trump advisor threatens Republicans to support nominees or face a primary: report

He added, "Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."

Cheney spoke with University of California-Berkeley School of Law. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky about the former Republican congressman's decision to withdraw from the process amid swirling sex trafficking allegations.

"I think it shows that Donald Trump cannot get anything he wants," Chemerinsky said.

However, Cheney notes, the law school dean "and others cautioned against extrapolating too much from the Gaetz debacle — he was so uniquely despised and compromised by legal and political scandal."

READ MORE: McConnell warns of GOP’s 'rule busting' strategy: report

Politico's full report is available here.