Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of former President Donald J. Trump’s most vocal allies during his term, reportedly sought a blanket pre-emptive pardon from the White House during the final weeks of President Trump’s administration, a revelation that comes as the lawmaker finds himself the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation.
Around that time, Gaetz was also publicly calling for broad pardons from Trump to thwart what he termed the “bloodlust” of their political opponents. “But Justice Department investigators had begun questioning Gaetz’s associates about his conduct, including whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old that violated sex trafficking laws, in an inquiry that grew out of the case of an