Former Trump aide Johnny McEntee said Gaetz told him he had asked former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for a preemptive pardon, the Post reported. McEntee told the committee that he understood the pardon to be in connection with the DOJ probe.
The Justice Department is investigating allegations that Gaetz paid for sex, paid for women to travel across state lines to have sex and had a sexual relationship with a minor. Gaetz denies the allegations.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a member of the committee, also presented an email from Brooks in which the Alabama congressman requested presidential pardons for himself, Gaetz, and lawmakers who objected to the Electoral College vote for Arizona and Pennsylvania.