WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Friday he has no plans to rejoin Congress after withdrawing his name as newly elected President Donald Trump’s attorney general amid sexual assault allegations misconduct.
“I’m still going to enter the fray, but it will be from a new position. I have no intention of running in the 119th Congress,” Gaetz said in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
“There are some amazing people from Florida who have run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service. And I’m actually excited to see Northwest Florida reaching new heights and having great representation,” he added.
Gaetz, who was first elected to the Florida State House when he was 28 years old, noted that he has been in elected office for 14 years.
“I’m 42 now and I have other goals in life that I would like to pursue – my wife and my family – and so I’m going to fight for President Trump,” he said. I’m going to do what he asks of me, just like I’ve always done. But I think eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”
Gaetz said it “seems like a pretty poetic time to have that great new blood coming in, to give my district some quality representation.”
He also hinted at playing a continuing role in Trump’s plans, without going into details.
“We need a leadership structure under President Trump that will enable the sustainability of our movement and the ability to continue this great realignment of our politics, and so I will play a role in that,” he said. “I intend to be a big voice, but perhaps not as an elected member of the government.”
NBC News reached out to Gaetz’s former House of Representatives staff for comment.
After Gaetz dropped his name as Trump’s attorney general on Thursday, there was some question as to whether the Florida Republican would choose to rejoin Congress since he was just re-elected this month for another two-year term.
If he were to rejoin Congress, there was also the question of whether the House Ethics Committee would move forward with releasing its report on its investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz.
The panel had been investigating him over allegations that he paid a minor and an adult woman for sex at a party in 2017. During the investigation, the committee was told that the minor, who was 17 years old, had had two sexual encounters with the man. then-member of the party’s congressman, NBC News reported Thursday, citing a source familiar with the discussions.
The Justice Department had also investigated Gaetz on sex trafficking allegations but chose not to file charges against him. Gaetz has also denied these allegations.
Gaetz’s upcoming appointment was on shaky ground because of the allegations. On Friday, he told Kirk that the allegations are false and an attempt to “smear” him.
“Like the things that House Ethics report [said] If that were true, I would be charged and probably in a jail cell,” Gaetz said. “But of course they are false, because when you test them against other documents, when you test them against other testimonies, it all falls apart very quickly.”
Gaetz resigned from Congress last week after Trump announced his selection of him as attorney general. Gaetz cannot return to the current Congress due to his resignation.
The congressman entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 2017 and was disliked by some members of the House Republican Conference for his role in leading the successful effort to impeach Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House of Representatives last year.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
