Newsmax passed on Matt Gaetz when congressman tried to get a job at network
Matt Gaetz was reportedly rejected by Newsmax
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Congressman Matt Gaetz tried but failed to get a job at Newsmax as details emerged of a federal sex trafficking investigation, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for the conservative media outlet confirmed that Mr Gaetz approached the network earlier this year around the time that news broke of the investigation
The New York Times first reported on 31 March that the US Department of Justice was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct, which Mr Gaetz has strongly and continuously denied.
Just one day earlier, Axios reported that Mr Gaetz was eying early retirement for a job at Newsmax.
Quoting three sources with direct knowledge of the Newsmax talks, Axios said that Mr Gaetz was considering not seeking re-election or even leaving Congress before the end of his term after early talks with the network of what the role could look like.
"Newsmax has had no plans to hire Rep. Gaetz," Newsmax spokesman Brian Peterson told Reuters.
Switching to an anonymous source familiar with Newsmax’s policies, the outlet reported that Mr Gaetz’s approach to management was "just a conversation" and the company.
"Earlier this year, (Mr Gaetz) reached out and said he might leave Congress early and was interested in TV work," the source was quoted as saying.
"[Newsmax] never told him we were interested."
Mr Gaetz’s office did not respond to Reuter’s request for comment. While the network seemingly rejected his job application, they continued to feature him as a guest on their programming.
In May, Mr Gaetz appeared on a broadcast to again deny the anonymous allegations as wild conspiracies.
While GOP’s rising star is reportedly being investigated over an alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl two years ago, which he says is part of an organized $25m extortion scam plot, he has not been charged with any crime and has denied all allegations.
Prosecutors recently struck a plea deal with a former Florida county tax collector, Joe Greenberg, in his guilty plea to trafficking a female minor. There was no reference to Mr Gaetz in the plea.
At a rally in Arizona recently, Mr Gaetz said he’s "not too worried" about Mr Greenberg.
“Joel Greenberg is literally sitting in jail right now because he originally accused someone who was innocent of having had a relationship with a minor. That wasn’t true, it was just a false thing that Joel Greenberg had said and that’s landed him in quite a bit of trouble,” Mr Gaetz said.
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