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Rep.
Matt
Gaetz is
facing
an
investigation
into
whether
he paid
for sex
with a
17-year-old
girl.
(Pool
via
Getty
Images)
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Gaetz
reported
to have
sought a
‘blanket’
pardon
from
Trump
By
Benjamin
Din,
Matt
Dixon
politico.com
WASHINGTON,
DC -
“The
recent
false
allegations
against
me are
not
something
I’ve
ever
discussed
with
Trump,
pardons
or
otherwise,”
Rep.
Matt
Gaetz
previously
told
POLITICO.
| AP
Photo/Patrick
Semansky
Rep.
Matt
Gaetz
allegedly
sought a
“blanket”
presidential
pardon
from
Donald
Trump in
the
closing
weeks of
his
administration
— a
request
which
was
ultimately
not
fulfilled,
according
to news
reports.
The
request
for a
blanket
preemptive
pardon
for the
Florida
Republican
and
unidentified
congressional
allies,
first
reported
on
Tuesday
night by
The New
York
Times,
came as
the
Justice
Department
was
opening
an
investigation
into
whether
Gaetz
had a
sexual
relationship
with a
17-year-old
and paid
for her
to
travel
across
state
lines.
It’s the
latest
development
in a
scandal
that has
embroiled
the
third-term
lawmaker
after
The
Times
first
reported
on the
investigation
last
week.
Gaetz, a
conservative
firebrand,
has been
a vocal
defender
of the
former
president.
However,
the
request
for a
pardon
was
quickly
dismissed
by the
White
House,
as
lawyers
and
officials
considered
such a
broad
move
could
set a
bad
precedent,
the
Times
reported,
citing
anonymous
sources
who were
briefed
on the
discussions.
It’s
unclear
whether
Gaetz or
the
White
House
was
aware of
the
Justice
Department
inquiry
when he
made the
pardon
request,
The
Times
said.
Although
Trump
was
informed
about
the
request,
it was
also
unclear
whether
Gaetz
had
spoken
directly
with him
about
the
matter.
However,
a week
ago, the
congressman
had
denied
that he
had
sought a
pardon
from
Trump
when
asked
about
the
possibility
by
POLITICO.
Reached
by phone
on
Tuesday
night,
Gaetz
stood by
that
statement
but said
he had
not read
the
Times
article.
“The
recent
false
allegations
against
me are
not
something
I’ve
ever
discussed
with
Trump,
pardons
or
otherwise,”
he
previously
told
POLITICO.
Gaetz
said
that he
and
other
lawmakers
had met
with
Trump to
discuss
a
broader
pardon
strategy
after
the
Capitol
riot on
Jan. 6,
an
exchange
in which
he
advised
the
former
president
to
pardon
himself,
his
family,
administration
officials
and
others
who
supported
Trump’s
election
claims
from a
charge
of
insurrection.
Trump
was
later
impeached
by the
House on
a charge
of
inciting
an
insurrection,
but
acquitted
in the
Senate.
In his
final
hours in
office,
Trump
issued
dozens
of
pardons
for
people
ranging
from his
former
adviser
Steve
Bannon
to
rappers
Lil
Wayne
and
Kodak
Black.
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