>>> BIT OF BREAKING NEWS ABOUT
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN MATT
GAETZ OF FLORIDA CURRENTLY UNDER
INVESTIGATION OF SEX TRAFFICKING
OF A 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL.
"NEW YORK TIMES" IS REPORTING
THAT HE ASKED THE WHITE HOUSE
FOR A BLANKET PREEMPTIVE PARDON
IN LAST WEEKS OF DONALD TRUMPS
TERM.
ASKED FOR PARDON FOR HIMSELF,
UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSIONAL
ALLIES WHICH SOME TRUMP
ASSOCIATES SPECULATE WAS AN
ATTEMPT TO CAMOUFLAGE HIMSELF.
IT WAS UNCLEAR WHETHER MR. GAETZ
OR THE WHITE HOUSE KNEW ABOUT
THE INQUIRY.
DIDNT TELL THE WHITE HOUSE
AIDES HE WAS UNDER INVESTIGATION
FOR SEX CRIMES WHEN HE MADE THE
REQUEST.
"NEW YORK TIMES" WASHINGTON
CORRESPONDENT MICHAEL SCHMIDT
BROKE THIS MOMENTS AGO, JOINS ME
NOW.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT THIS
REQUEST?
>> BASICALLY IT CAME IN IN A
FINAL WEEKS OF THE TRUMP
PRESIDENCY, THERE WAS A LOT OF
DISCUSSION GOING ON AT WHITE
HOUSE. PRESIDENT WAS BRINGING UP IDEA
PRESIDENT WAS BRINGING UP IDEA
OF PARDONS WITH ASSOCIATES AND
CONFIDENT
CONFIDANTES, WOULD YOU LIKE A
DIET COKE, WOULD YOU LIKE A
PARDON?
IT WAS BEING DISCUSSED AND GAETZ
WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO ASK
FOR A BLANKET PARDON.
WOULD HAVE BEEN EXTRAORDINARY
EVEN BY THE STANDARDS OF THE
TRUMP PARDONS.
IF YOU REMEMBER, TRUMP GAVE
PARDONS TO ALL SORTS OF ALLIES,
DONORS AND SUCH.
BUT IN THE CASE OF GAETZ, HE HAD
NOT BEEN CHARGED WITH A CRIME, SO WOULD BE ESSENTIALLY THE
SO WOULD BE ESSENTIALLY THE
ULTIMATE GET-OUT-OF-JAIL-FREE
CARD.
GIVING YOU PARDON ON ALL ACTS,
PARDON ON STEROIDS.
WHITE HOUSE AIDES REALIZED THIS
WAS HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC AND WOULD
SET A BAD PRECEDENT AND HAD ODD
OVERTURE TO IT.
DIDNT REALLY GO ANYWHERE.
>> SO JUST TO TAKE OUR MINDS
BACK TO SOMETHING YOU DID GREAT
REPORTING ABOUT AT THE TIME AND
LOT OF PEOPLE AS WELL.
WHITE HOUSE THATS ALMOST
BIZARRE FOR PARDONS, RIGHT?
HUGE, SIX AND SEVEN-FIGURE
CAMPAIGNS FOR PEOPLE.
>> THERE WAS A MARKET FOR
PARDONS.
A MARKET FOR PARDONS.
>> LOT OF REQUESTS.
ALSO THE TIME REPORTING THAT YOU
AND OTHERS IN "NEW YORK TIMES"
AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS ABOUT THE
PRESIDENT THINKING ABOUT
PARDONING HIMSELF OR HIS FAMILY
IN THIS PREEMPTIVE BLANKET WAY,
NOT PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN CHARGED
ALREADY, BUT PREEMPTIVE AND
BLANK-WISE.
THATS IN THE AIR AT THE TIME
THAT GAETZ WITH PROPOSING THIS.
>> AND WHAT IS GOING ON AT THAT
TIME?
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF MATT
GAETZ IS ACCELERATING, THEYRE
BEGINNING TO DO INTERVIEWS WITH
WITNESSES, STARTING TO TALK TO
PEOPLE, THE TYPE OF THINGS TO
GIVE OFF CLUES TO PEOPLE THAT
SOMETHING IS GOING ON.
OTHER THING IS, IN AUGUST, LAST
AUGUST, HIS ASSOCIATE HAD BEEN
INDICTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING OF
A MINOR.
SOMEONE HE HAD SPENT A LOT OF
TIME WITH, SOMEONE WHO HE KNEW A
LOT ABOUT HIS ACTIVITIES, AND WE
NOW KNOW THAT GAETZ IS UNDER
INVESTIGATION FOR HAVING A
RELATIONSHIP -- FOR HAVING IS
SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT SAME
GIRL, SO GAETZ KNOWS, ON THE
PUBLIC RECORD, IN AUGUST OF LAST
YEAR, THE INDICTMENT OF THIS GUY
FOR SEX TRAFFICKING A MINOR.
IF MATT GAETZ WAS PAYING
ATTENTION T WAS WIDELY REPORTED
IN FLORIDA PRESS AT THE TIME,
WOULD HAVE HAD SOME HINT