Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said Thursday that President-elect Trump may be “playing 4D chess” with his nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general.
“He’s resigned from the House,” the “The Hugh Hewitt Show” host said. “Donald Trump could be playing 4D chess here, because Matt Gaetz wanted to end the ethics investigation in the House — they lose jurisdiction when a member resigns, so that proceeding is [closed] — but their paper isn’t [closed], and that goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
“The FBI opens a full-field background investigation [into] Matt Gaetz. And Matt Gaetz has to testify for as long as the Senate Judiciary Committee wants, and all of that is under oath subject to the penalties of 18 U.S.C. 1001,” he added in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Hewitt then said that if Gaetz is not truthful “during the course of that hearing, it’s a felony.”
Trump shocked Washington on Wednesday by announcing that he selected Gaetz to serve as attorney general in his upcoming administration.
“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Gaetz, who resigned from the House immediately after the announcement, has recently been the subject of a probe by the House Ethics Committee looking into whether he had taken part in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, alongside other allegations. But Gaetz’s resignation essentially kills the probe by taking himself out of the panel’s jurisdiction.
Two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) have expressed interest in the House committee’s report.
Gaetz was one of the president-elect’s strongest supporters in the House but has critics within his own party, most notably ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whom he has publicly feuded with. Hewitt called the former Speaker a “friend for 35 years” Thursday.
“I do not believe Matt Gaetz is responsible and I don’t think he should be near the fifth floor of the Department of Justice, and I trust the Senate,” Hewitt said.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
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