The release of a House ethics report alleging that former Rep. Matt Gaetz had sex with a minor makes his return to elected office more uncertain — yet several allies of President-elect Donald Trump urged him to stay in the game.
“Gaetz needs to come back,” Steve Bannon, the former Trump adviser, said Monday on his “War Room” podcast. “Gaetz must return as Trump returned. Don’t go back, double down.”
The Republican former representative has denied the allegations in the 37-page ethics report, which includes allegations of illegal drug use and soliciting prostitutes. A Justice Department investigation into his conduct yielded no charges.
Gaetz was forced out of the confirmation process to become the next attorney general under Trump — in part because of senators’ concerns about the ethics report. He had already resigned from Congress shortly after Trump announced him as his choice.
In recent weeks, Gaetz has run for governor of Florida, the Senate or a return to the House of Representatives. Supporters like Sen. Joe Gruters, who endorsed the president-elect this weekend as treasurer of the Republican National Committee, insisted he could still consider a return to public office.
“Matt Gaetz was completely exonerated by a highly partisan DOJ, and the release of this report serves no purpose other than to attempt to damage his reputation by those with personal or political grievances against him,” Gruters said. “The public can see through these tactics, and Matt Gaetz still has a bright future in elected office or whatever other path he chooses.”
Asked about Gaetz’s political future, Florida-based Republican political operative Jamie Miller also brought up the absence of DOJ charges and said the recently released report put the matter in the “court of public opinion.”
“There does not appear to be any new information in this report that has not been leaked before,” he said. “The question becomes: does the public believe these were juvenile transgressions or do they see them as character flaws?”
A representative for the Trump transition did not immediately respond to questions about whether Gaetz would be considered for another role in the new administration.
Gaetz has a job lined up starting in January, when he will host his own primetime show on the conservative One America News Network. Prominent trial attorney John Morgan also told POLITICO that he and Gaetz discussed the possibility of him joining his firm, Morgan & Morgan.
Morgan was not bothered by the ethics report. He said he did not know if the allegations of illegal drug use were true, but stated that “a lot of people” have used drugs. He also said Gaetz would have been prosecuted if the allegations of sex with a minor were true.
“If we’re going to guilt people based on rumors and vendetta, then we’re not who we should be,” said Morgan, who is friends with Gaetz but has given generously to Democratic campaigns over the years.
Gaetz could still become Florida’s governor if he runs if Gov. Ron DeSantis is removed from office in 2026, as he could win several electors during a Republican primary, Morgan added.
Gaetz has never faced a tough election in his ruby red district, but after leading the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives, the California Republican tried to wage a revenge campaign by the 2024 election cycle to unsuccessfully support a Republican challenger.
A Florida-based Republican lobbyist, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said Gaetz’s withdrawal from the race for attorney general was worse for his political prospects than the publication of the ethics report, since Gaetz was the latter as a candidate could label. McCarthy Establishment Movement. But Trump had shown no willingness to fight for Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general.
The person declined to rule out the possibility that Gaetz’s political future was over, citing Trump’s ability to overcome indictments, convictions and impeachments.
“In the age of populism, anything is possible,” the person said.
David Custin, a Republican political campaign consultant who counts Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez among his clients, agreed that Gaetz could still return to elected office.
“If the past decade of Florida and U.S. politics has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t simply cast aside someone’s political future based on allegations of misconduct,” he said. “Representative. Gaetz is innocent until proven guilty. His high IQ, political powers and talent ensure that his political future is not limited.”
Gaetz returned to Congress for a limited time in light of the fact that the special election for his replacement is scheduled for April 1. He said last week on X that he was considering running for Congress to be sworn into the new House. then files a privileged motion to uncover “any ‘me too’ settlement paid for with public funds” from former and current members. Then he would resign and go to OAN.
Gaetz posted what appeared to be transcribed interviews with witnesses all day Monday on X, questioning several allegations, including that financial gifts to women could be characterized as prostitution.
“There is a reason they did this to me in a report on Christmas Eve and not in a courtroom where I could present evidence and challenge witnesses,” he wrote.
Speaking at Turning Point’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Sunday, Gaetz was coy about his future in politics after acknowledging that there was “the writing on the wall” surrounding his appointment as attorney general that would “cause a delay of the important work we have ahead of us. ”
“Floridians have asked me to tour the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, perhaps a special counsel to uncover insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress,” Gaetz said. “It seems like maybe I haven’t had enough support in the United States Senate, maybe I’ll run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those people. ”
“But for now, I like being one of you,” Gaetz told the crowd.
Rubio’s seat will be open for election in 2026, as the senator is expected to be confirmed as secretary of state. Starting early next year, however, DeSantis will appoint someone to fill the seat in the interim, and that person could then run as an incumbent candidate.
No candidates have yet announced a gubernatorial run in Florida for the 2026 election. Trump has had no impact on the upcoming race, but his endorsement would likely carry significant weight, just as he did when he endorsed DeSantis during the 2018 Republican primaries.
Several Democrats in Florida have made no secret of their hope that Gaetz is the 2026 gubernatorial candidate so they can have a shot at elected office in a once battleground state that has trended heavily toward victory over the past few election cycles. the Republicans and Trump are gone.
“The findings of the House Ethics Committee report confirm that Matt Gaetz does not belong anywhere near the halls of Congress or in any other elected office,” said Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, who served several years ago was friends with Gaetz when she was a member. marijuana lobbyist. “The truth always comes out eventually.”
Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.
