Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) hinted that he could run for U.S. Senate just hours before a House Ethics Committee report was expected to suggest that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl.
While speaking at Turning Point USA's AmFest conference on Sunday, Gaetz responded to speculation about his next move after backing out as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be the next attorney general.
"Many have asked which perch I will be fighting from next, and some of you throughout this conference have even given me a few suggestions," the former lawmaker remarked. "My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the governor's mansion in Tallahassee."
"Maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading for my former colleagues in Congress," he continued. "Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States Senate and join some of those folks."
Gaetz acknowledged that a Republican-controlled Senate may have declined to confirm him as attorney general amid rumors that the Ethics Committee was told he had sex with a 17-year-old girl on at least two occasions. The committee was expected to release the report on Monday.
"And my friend Steve Bannon and others have suggested that I return to the House of Representatives on January 3rd, but I would remind Steve, when he got out of prison, he didn't punch a guard on the way out," Gaetz told the AmFest audience. "For the moment, I'll enjoy being one of you."
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In the meantime, the former congressman has taken a job with One America News, a fringe right-wing network.
"One America News is a feisty, tough, exciting news organization, and I am thrilled to be joining their lineup with The Matt Gaetz Show at 9 p.m.," Gaetz said. "They're even letting me film out of Washington, D.C., a good amount, and so who knows what trouble I may get into while I'm there."
Gaetz recently admitted that he "partied, womanized, drank and smoked more than I should have" in his early 30s. While being investigated by the Justice Department, he denied having sex with a 17-year-old girl. DOJ investigators eventually declined to prosecute him for sex trafficking.
Watch the video below from Real America's Voice or at the link. .
