An aide to former President Donald Trump testified before the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6 that Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz sought a preemptive presidential pardon in connection with a Justice Department investigation into whether Gaetz violated federal anti-corruption laws. of sex trafficking, a source familiar with the testimony tells CNN.
John McEntee, who served as director of the White House Office of the President’s Personnel in the Trump administration, told the committee that Gaetz spoke with him about his process for seeking a pardon in connection with the DOJ investigation in a brief meeting. McEntee told the committee he could not recall whether his brief meeting with Gaetz was before or after the Capitol attack.
Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and the investigation is ongoing. An associate of Gaetz’s, former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to federal charges, including one of child sex trafficking, after reaching a deal with federal prosecutors for a reduced criminal charge after agreeing to provide “substantial assistance” to the sprawling investigation. The assistance included an agreement to testify in trials or in federal grand jury if necessary and to turn over any documents that might assist the federal investigation.
Gaetz claimed the allegations stemmed from an extortion scheme against him and his family, saying in a statement to CNN in 2021 that “no part of the allegations against me are true.” His spokesman also said Gaetz never paid for sex, nor did he have sex with a 17-year-old as an adult.
The new information McEntee told the select committee gives more context to Gaetz’s concern about the investigation and provides new insight into the specific type of pardon Gaetz was seeking. The Justice Department has been investigating Gaetz since early 2021 over allegations of sex trafficking and prostitution, including whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
McEntee relayed to the committee that Gaetz said at the time “he is being investigated or that there is an investigation into him,” without specifically naming the Department of Justice as the entity investigating him. But when committee investigators asked McEntee if he interpreted Gaetz’s pardon request in the context of the DOJ investigation, McEntee said “I think that was the context, yes.”
McEntee also testified that Gaetz told him he “didn’t do anything wrong, but they’re trying to make his life hell, and you know, if the president could pardon him, that would be great.”
Details of McEntee’s deposition were first reported by the Washington Post.
McEntee also told the committee that Gaetz shared that he had sought a pardon from Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, which the committee has already disclosed in previous testimony. A representative for Meadows did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for Gaetz told CNN: “Congressman Matt Gaetz has debated on behalf of many other people publicly and privately at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term. As for himself, President Trump addressed this malicious rumor more than a year ago by declaring, “Congressman Matt Gaetz has never asked me for a pardon.” Representative Gaetz continues to support President Trump’s statement.”
The commission had already disclosed some of McEntee’s testimony at one of its hearings in June. McEntee testified to the committee that Gaetz said he specifically asked Meadows to pardon him, though it was unclear at the time what the pardon request was for. CNN reached out to a phone number and email address believed to belong to McEntee for comment, but has not heard back.
When an investigator asked McEntee how he knew Gaetz had asked for a pardon from Meadows, McEntee replied, “He told me he had asked for a pardon from Meadows.”
The committee also revealed testimony from McEntee in which he said he was aware of conversations about the possibility of a general pardon on January 6. The committee also previously disclosed that a group of Republican lawmakers, including Gaetz, had sought a preemptive presidential pardon.
A spokesman for the House select committee declined to comment.
During a hearing in June, the committee revealed an email sent to the White House by GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama “at the request of Matt Gaetz,” seeking pardons for Gaetz, himself and others who are not named.
Former Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson also testified to the committee that “Mr. Gaetz has been personally pushing for a pardon, and has been since early December, I’m not sure why. Mr. Gaetz had contacted me to ask if he could have a meeting with Mr. Meadows about receiving a presidential pardon.”
Hutchinson said Gaetz was not the only member of the GOP to contact her about a blanket presidential pardon. She said GOP Reps. Brooks, Arizona’s Andy Biggs, Texas’ Louie Gohmert and Pennsylvania’s Scott Perry have contacted her about the pardon. She testified that she heard GOP Vice President Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, “had asked the White House Counsel’s Office for a favor from Mr. Philbin, but I didn’t communicate often with Ms. Green.” He said GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio “spoke for a favor from Congress, but he never asked me for one.”
Former Trump White House counsel Eric Hersman testified to the committee, “I believe so,” when asked if Gaetz had sought a pardon from the presidential temple.
“The general tone was that we might be prosecuted for standing up for the president’s positions on these things. The forgiveness he was discussing, asking for was as broad as you could describe. From the beginning – I remember he said, from the beginning of time until now for all things. He had mentioned Nixon and I said that Nixon’s pardon was never that broad,” Hersman testified, which the committee revealed during the hearing.
None of the lawmakers were ever pardoned by Trump.
