FLORIDA’S GAETZ SAID TO HAVE SOUGHT BLANKET PARDON
Congressman asked Trump for clemency for himself, others
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal allies during his term, publicly pledging loyalty and even signing a letter nominating the president for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the final weeks of Trump’s term, Gaetz sought something in return. He privately asked the White House for blanket preemptive pardons for himself and unidentified congressional allies for any crimes they may have committed, according to two people told of the discussions.
Around that time, Gaetz was also publicly calling for broad pardons from Trump to thwart what he termed the “bloodlust” of their political opponents. But Justice Department investigators had begun questioning Gaetz’s associates about his conduct, including whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old that violated sex trafficking laws, in an inquiry that grew out of the case of an indicted associate in Florida.
It was unclear whether Gaetz or the White House knew at the time about the inquiry, or who else he sought pardons for. Gaetz did not tell White House aides that he was under investigation for potential sex trafficking violations when he made the request. But top White House lawyers and officials viewed the request for a preemptive pardon as a nonstarter that would set a bad precedent, the people said.
Aides told Trump of the request, though it is unclear whether Gaetz discussed the matter directly with the president. Trump ultimately pardoned dozens of allies and others in the final months of his presidency, highlighting his willingness to wield his power to help close supporters and lash out against the criminal justice system.
In recent days, some Trump associates have speculated that Gaetz’s request for a group pardon was an attempt to camouflage his own potential criminal exposure.
Either way, Gaetz’s appeal to the Trump White House shows how the thirdterm congressman sought to leverage an unlikely presidential relationship he had spent years cultivating.
Few Republicans in Congress became more closely associated with Trump during his presidency than Gaetz. Though he had initially supported his fellow Floridian Jeb Bush in the 2016 Republican primary race, Gaetz latched his political fortunes to Trump during the campaign and found stardom in the Republican Party, becoming one of Trump’s greatest defenders.
This account of Gaetz’s dealings with the Trump White House is based on interviews with four people briefed on the exchanges about his pardon request and other Trump confidants. A spokesperson for Trump declined to comment.
Gaetz has denied having sex with a 17-year-old or paying for sex. A spokesperson denied that he privately requested a pardon in connection with the continuing Justice Department inquiry.
“Entry-level political operatives have conflated a pardon call from Rep. Gaetz — where he called for President Trump to pardon ‘everyone from himself, to his administration, to Joe Exotic’ — with these false and increasingly bizarre, partisan allegations against him,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Those comments have been on the record for some time, and President Trump even retweeted the congressman, who tweeted them out himself.”
Although Gaetz had little formal power in the House, where he remains a backbencher, he offered Trump what he craved and what Republican congressional leaders would not always offer: fierce loyalty and a taste for bare-knuckle political combat.
Gaetz embraced his role after the president lost last year’s election, trying to discredit the result and overturn it in Congress. He also privately and publicly attacked Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a leading Republican critic of Trump’s incitement of the Capitol rioters.
Two weeks after Trump lost re-election, Gaetz called on him to “pardon everyone” before he left office or they would be targeted by the “radical left.”