Matt Gaetz contacted Newsmax early this year, a source at the outlet said. That was around the time that news broke Gaetz was the subject of a federal investigation into possible sex trafficking of a minor.
A source familiar with Newsmax’s policies said: “Earlier this year, (Gaetz) reached out and said he might leave Congress early and was interested in TV work.”
Investigators are seeking to determine whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old, according to news reports and a law enforcement source who spoke with Reuters. He has not been charged with any crimes and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Gaetz had considered leaving Congress to pursue a career in television, setting his sights on prominent conservative news channels such as Fox News, One America News Network (OANN) and Newsmax, a favored news source of former President Trump, with whom Gaetz is aligned.
“No one with any level of authority has had conversations with Matt Gaetz for any of our platforms, and we have no interest in hiring him,” the network said in a statement at the time.
The founder and CEO of OANN, Robert Herring, later told the Daily Beast that he was “not really hiring anybody for talk shows,” as Gaetz reportedly desired. Herring said that he advised Gaetz to remain in Congress.
