Matt Gaetz would oversee US prisons as AG. He thinks El Salvador’s hardline lockups are a model

CNN — As he stood inside the echoing hall of the prison, Matt Gaetz seemed impressed. It was July, and Gaetz — who will oversee the Federal Bureau of Prisons if he becomes attorney general — was visiting El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where gang leaders and murderers are locked up and from which they are never released. “We think the good ideas in El Salvador actually have legs and can go to other places and help other people be safe and secure and hopeful and prosperous.” Last month, CNN was the first major US news organization to be granted access to Cecot on a private tour, seeing the recently built fortress where both convicts and some men still facing trial spend 23½ hours a day in bleak group cells, eat a bland meatless diet and have just 30 minutes a day for exercise or Bible class. Announcing the new group in the House of Representatives, Gaetz said: “Through the inspiration from El Salvador’s astonishing transformation, the great American rejuvenation can become a reality as well, so that we can experience a triumphant return of safety and prosperity that we once inspired in others.” Should he face interviews and a Senate confirmation hearing for the position of attorney general, Gaetz may well be asked about his thoughts on Bukele’s approach to crime and criminal justice and how that might influence his position as attorney general. Last week, even as the State Department lowered its travel advisory for El Salvador, citing a “significant reduction” in crime, it also warned that Bukele’s state of emergency allows authorities to “arrest anyone suspected of gang activity and suspends several constitutional rights.” The Salvadoran president wasted no time in congratulating Gaetz on his selection as Trump’s AG pick, posting on X, “I knew you were destined to do great things, my friend.”