NYT: Matt Gaetz Said To Have Sought Blanket Pardon | All In | MSNBC

>>> BIT OF BREAKING NEWS ABOUT >>> 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

Channel: MSNBC

Views: 219,192

Rating: 4.8581238 out of 5

Keywords: Republicans, Congress, Sexual Misconduct, Florida, Best of last night, Deadline White House, All In With Chris Hayes, All In, Chris Hayes, MSNBC, MSNBC news, MSNBC live, MSNBC TV, news, breaking news, current events, US news, politics, politics news, political news, elections, chris hayes live, chris hayes msnbc, Matt Gaetz, Blanket Pardon, New York Times, Rep. Matt Gaetz, sex trafficking, the White House, Congressman Matt Gaetz, Justice Matt Miller, sex trafficking laws

Id: 6pkqOcIQfxI

Length: 4min 23sec (263 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 06 2021