Arkansas representative on President-Elect Trump’s picks
(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Representative French Hill (R-Ark.) spoke to Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on President-Elect Donald Trump's recent picks.
Brennan and Hill talked about the president-elect picking Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, who, according to Brennan, was being investigated after four women, back in June, informed the House Ethics Committee that "they were paid to go to sex and drug fueled parties" with Gaetz as well as the committee having Venmo transactions showing Gaetz's payments for the women.
When asked if he would consider the information to confirming Gaetz if he was in the Senate, Hill said:
"I don't personally know any details about the ethics investigation or the allegations, because I haven't, don't serve on that committee. But...would the Senate Judiciary Committee asked to see that report, and that may well be a decision that they take, and the ethics committee has a decision that they have to make, and Mike Johnson's expressed his view on on that as well. So as I say, this is an important process that the Senate has to do, advise and consent for all the nominations, and President Trump has the prerogative to nominate the people that he thinks can best lead the change that he believes the American people are seeking in each of the agencies of the federal government."
Brennan earlier asked Hill if the Ethics Committee should make the decision to release a report on Gaetz, with House Speaker Mike Johnson previously saying while he doesn't want to "specifically wade in to the ethics matter," he also thinks it would set a "bad precedent to release a report on a former member."
"I think the Ethics Committee does make that decision for itself, but I think Speaker Johnson makes a important point, which is, Mr. Gaetz has resigned from Congress. There are many investigations that the House Ethics Committee has done, and we don't want to set a precedent where we, under any circumstances, will release documents from that committee, but that decision is theirs. Speaker Johnson has made his views known, and now it will be up to the Senate to conduct their advise and consent confirmation process."
Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.)
During the interview, Brennan and Hill talked about Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence (DNI): Tulsi Gabbard.
"I think, should Tulsi Gabbard be confirmed, she would know with high confidence as to precisely how we collect intelligence, how we coordinate and collaborate on it, and how we then report it to the President of the United States and to the two intelligence committees," Hill expressed.
Later in the interview, Brennan and Hill talked about Pete Hegseth, former Fox News host, being nominated for the Secretary of Defense. When Brennan asked if experience is necessary or is on the job training okay at the Pentagon, Hill said:
"I think this will be assessed by the Senate in their confirmation process. He has a distinguished background in the military, and that counts for a lot, and I think his plans, his thoughts, his leadership, will be exposed when he goes through that Senate confirmation process. But once again, I have to say, President Trump, when he came into office in 2017 had cabinet members that he really had no personal relationship with, had no working background with. He wants to correct that this time by finding people that he has a good working relationship with. He knows how they think. They know how he thinks, because he thinks it will lead to better decision making in his administration. He's got that prerogative to nominate those men and women and the Senate will have their advice and consent function well underway, and Majority Leader-to-be John Thune has said look, he'll be effective. He'll be speedy. He'll take it done, get it done in the right course of action."
To watch more of Brennan's interview with Hill, click here.
