Congress and the GOP are losing a powerful voice and the entire DC area is utterly confused. Who are we talking about? Pitbull chairman of the House oversight committee, Jason Chaffetz (aka @jasoninthehouse) is apparently not going to in the House for much longer.
Yesterday news broke that he would not be seeking re-election in 2018. Reminder that Chaffetz and Nunes were tasked with investigating Trump/Russia. Nunes stepped aside after his crazy, straight out of a Mr. Bean movie, midnight rendezvous on the White House grounds shenanigans where he was trying to cook up *proof* of Obama wiretapping came to light. Now Trump is losing his other best friend. But WHY??
While we were all sitting around playing armchair detective, even more craziness came to light today:
Now, reports are surfacing that Chaffetz may be leaving his role before his term is even up:
BREAKING NEWS: @jasoninthehouse tells KSL's @DougWrightShow he might not finish his Congressional term.
The Hill reports that Chaffetz told KSL Radio: "I will continue to weigh the options, but I might depart early" on Thursday.
And literally as I was typing this post, these tweets starting blowing up my feed:
Word on the ground from Utah:
Chaffetz will be doing announcement tomorrow that he is stepping down from Congress
Analysis | Jason Chaffetz and Devin Nunes both faced investigating Trump. Now both are stepping...
The most thankless job in Washington?
No one knows what the heck is going on. Chaffetz used the tried and true "desire to spend more time with his family in Utah and return to the private sector" excuse that is most often cited.
The most odd part - there are 19 months left before the midterms. To run out the door so soon speaks to something possibly more sinister. Is he compromised in some way? Do the Russians have kompromat on him? No one knows for sure...but the timing sure is suspicious.
Will his new handle be @JasonInTheBigHouse one day?
It appears that Chaffetz is using his remaining time in office to leverage a juicy TV gig or some wingnut welfare, according to Politico.
“I started poking around to see what I might be worth and what sort of possibilities are there,” Chaffetz said in a phone interview with POLITICO Thursday afternoon. “And I got a series of ‘Let us know when you’re serious.’ Well now I can say, ‘Can you tell I am serious?’… I’ll take a little bit of time to sort out. I’d be thrilled to have a television relationship. But there’s a number of things I’d like to do.”
...
“I might depart early,” he said in the interview. “It’s not tomorrow, it’s not next week. If it is, it’s going to be in the months to come.”
Asked if he is resigning because of a yet-to-be revealed scandal, Chaffetz said, “Absolutely, positively not.
“Not in any way shape or form,” he said. “I’ve been given more enemas by more people over the last eight years than you can possibly imagine. From the Secret Service to the Democratic Party. I am who I am. If they had something really scandalous, it would’
AND
Utahns Puzzled by Rep. Chaffetz Decision to Quit Congress
by CORKY SIEMASZKO
Not everybody in Utah is thrilled that Rep. Jason Chaffetz is coming home so soon.
The powerful chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who surprised his constituents last week by throwing in the towel after more than eight years in Congress, has become the subject of speculation — and is even taking some flak back in Utah — for his sudden decision.
Even some Chaffetz supporters in a reliably red state that has regularly reelected him by huge margins are having trouble wrapping their heads around the timing of this move.
"For nearly a decade Chaffetz has been a mainstay of Utah political life," the conservative Deseret News wrote in an editorial last month thanking him for his service. "Yet, he also has been a lightning rod."
"Clearly, Chaffetz is unafraid of criticism, which has added fuel to the speculations as to why he made this announcement nearly two years before his term ends," the paper stated.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz speaks during a town hall meeting at Brighton High School, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah.
In a decidedly harsher editorial, the Salt Lake Tribune asked "why now?" and then came up with some possible reasons: Chaffetz is "intimidated" by the prospect of running against a well-funded Democratic rival in 2018; he was rattled at the raucous Town Hall meetings where he was heckled by constituents yelling "Do your job!"; he was taking too much heat from both Democrats and Republicans for refusing to investigate the Trump Administration and potential Russian involvement in the presidential election.
"He promised to be a 'kid in a candy store' while investigating a Trump presidency," the paper stated. "We haven't seen anything close to that."
That was followed-up by a column in the Salt Lake Tribune by the Democrat that Chaffetz trounced in his last election who accused the congressman of "hypocrisy and moral cowardice."
"Rep. Jason Chaffetz's recent announcement that he intends to leave office early is equivalent to a soldier abandoning his post because he finds his duty too hard," declared Stephen Tryon, a retired Army officer. "This decision demonstrates the truth of what I told Chaffetz to his face during our debate last October. He is a man who puts his personal interests first, his political fortunes second, and his duty to our country a distant third."
The broadside from Tryon, who Chaffetz bested in 2016 with a solid 74 percent of the vote, came a week after the high-profile congressman announced he would not seek reelection in 2018.
That was followed with another surprise announcement — that Chaffetz was flying back to Utah for surgery on a foot that he injured a dozen years ago and had been held together at one point by 14 screws and a metal plate.
Billboard in Utah County on I-15 between Center Street and University Parkway on April 11, 2017 in Provo, Utah. File Steve Griffin / AP
He has since returned to Washington, the stated reason being his intention to cast his vote in favor of the GOP's latest version of an Obamacare repeal.
Asked for a response, a Chaffetz spokeswoman said they have no comment.
But Chris Karpowitz, a political science professor at Utah's Brigham Young University, said there is genuine consternation in Utah about Chaffetz, who nevertheless remains a popular political figure in the state.
"I think people are more puzzled than anything else, puzzled about the timing of Chaffetz's decision," said Karpowitz. "It's been an open secret that he eventually wanted to come back to Utah and run for statewide office. But he has said for years he basically wanted to serve out this term, so it's hard to know what to make of it."
Chaffetz is a Mormon and a Republican in a state where 75 percent of the voters are Mormon and vote Republican. And he's never faced a serious challenger in any of his elections.
Now, however, there are "plenty of warning signs" that Chaffetz might have trouble with a well-funded Democrat like Kathryn Allen, who is vying for his seat, said Karpowitz.
Dr. Kathryn Allen
Utah democratic U.S. House candidate Dr. Kathryn Allen speaks during an interview at a clinic on March 14, 2017 in Salt Lake City. File Rick Bowmer / AP
While many Republicans cheered Chaffetz on when his congressional committee went after Hillary Clinton, some of those same Republicans are troubled by the "double standard" he appears to be applying to Trump.
"He promised years of investigation in Clinton," Karpowitz said. But "he has not figured out how to be chair of the oversight committee under a Republican administration."
Jason Perry of the non-partisan Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah said Chaffetz "represents one of the safest Republican districts in the country."
"And he came home to a town hall with people booing," he said. "That's the mood of the country right now."
No doubt some of Chaffetz's constituents were taken aback by the timing of his announcement, but others "are taking him at his word that he's doing this for his family and already thinking about who his successor will be," said Perry.
Chaffetz, 50, did not give a specific reason for why he was quitting Congress early beyond wanting to spend more time at home with his family — and less time sleeping on a cot in his Washington office. But last year he telegraphed his eventual exit in an interview with The Deseret News in which he also said he might run for Utah governor in 2020.
"I'm not going to be here forever," he told the paper. "I would take a serious, serious look at running for governor."
Lauren Littlefield, the head of the Utah Democratic Party, said the first thing she thought when Chaffetz made his announcement was, "Oh, he's really going to run for governor in 2020."
"Nobody here expects Jason Chaffetz to be done with his political career," she said. "But when we heard he was going to resign early, then of course all the rumors started to swirl around. There were some outlandish ones about him and there was talk about how he was leaving Washington because the Russians knew about them all."
Littlefield said neither she nor most Utah Democrats put much stock in the rumors.
"We respect the guy," she said. "But we certainly disagree with him on everything."
Utah state Sen. Deidre Henderson, who got her start in politics working on a Chaffetz campaign, said "anyone who knows Jason knows that those theories are ridiculous."
"Despite what you may read elsewhere, if Jason were to run again next year, he would win decisively," she wrote in an email to NBC News. "A recent Utah Policy poll shows his approval rating as high now as it was before his announcement."
Raised Jewish, Chaffetz father's first wife was Kitty Dukakis — who later married failed Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis — and his grandfather was an FBI agent.
Chaffetz became a Mormon while a student at Brigham Young University. Before he got into politics, he was a spokesman for the Utah-based Nu Skin Enterprises, a personal care and dietary supplement company that had been accused in the past of being a pyramid scheme — and which now operates abroad in countries like Russia and China.
While Chaffetz no longer works for Nu Skin, records show the firm was his biggest campaign contributor.
Longtime observers of the Utah political scene said it would not surprise then if Chaffetz returned to Nu Skin.
"From there he could make a run for governor," said one, who asked not to be identified. "He does have ambitions to run for governor."
Nu Skin spokesman Scott Bisang said that while Chaffetz remains good friends with the founders of the company they have heard nothing about him being back on the payroll
AND
14 reasons why Jason Chaffetz must leave Congress immediately
After 16 years in Congress, including two as chairman of the powerful House Oversight Committee, it's time for Rep. Jason Chaffetz to leave Capitol Hill. An accident that occurred during the W. Bush administration makes his departure not only necessary but urgent.
As the Utah Republican packs his bags, he can only blame himself for his own clumsiness. "Almost 12 years ago," Chaffetz explained in a statement Wednesday night, "I shattered several bones in my foot which required 14 screws and a metal plate to repair."
In the most dad-explanation ever, Chaffetz said he wishes the injury was the result of something cool like "cliff diving in Mexico." In reality, the blundering Republican fell off a ladder in his garage. Now University of Utah doctors "recommend immediate surgery to remove all the hardware or I could be at risk for serious infection."
Chaffetz will be off his feet and out of Congress for several weeks during recovery, missing work until at least mid-May.
After the announcement, an army of trolls became sudden experts in podiatry. In addition to the expected quips about pre-existing conditions, several questioned why Chaffetz needed the surgery all these years later. While that decision should be made between a man and his doctor, this type of operation doesn't seem that uncommon.
The more interesting question is what Chaffetz stands to gain by leaving Washington for a while. By design or by accident, the foot surgery could give him a leg up in the long run. Specifically, he might miss critical and controversial votes.
While Utah never set up an exchange, the red state has experienced a surge in Obamacare signups. Last year enrollment grew by more than 12 percent, the New York Times reported in March, an increase of about 197,187 Utahns. While in recovery, Chaffetz wouldn't have to vote on repealing Obamacare and wouldn't risk alienating those voters.
The foot injury could let Chaffetz sidestep a controversy that could hurt him if he decided to run for governor in 2020. Either way, hopefully, the surgery goes off without a hitch.
AND THEN
Why is Jason Chaffetz leaving Congress? There are a bunch of conspiracies swirling around
The Utah Republican spread all sorts of crazy ideas about Barack Obama. Now others are doing it to him
Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz is no stranger to conspiracy theories. But now that he’s announced that he’s not going to run for re-election, he has become the subject of conspiracy theories rather than the one spreading them.
Of course, there are more rational explanations for why the ultra-ambitious Republican would abandon a high-profile office and walk away from the television cameras he so loves. Being the chairman of the House Oversight Committee of the same party as President Donald Trump is surely an uncomfortable position. And it’s probably not what Chaffetz was expecting, as the Utah-based Deseret News reported earlier on Friday:
This became most apparent when he parlayed his rising visibility into a chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee, which he used to go after Planned Parenthood, Hillary Clinton and other favorite punching bags of the right. He became the most high-profile antagonist of the Obama administration, the tormentor-in-chief, and in the final weeks of the campaign he vowed that he would continue to investigate Hillary Clinton for using an unclassified email server, improperly staffing the embassy in Benghazi, and any other possible crimes, whether she won re-election or not.
Then Donald Trump got elected and everything changed.
“Trump getting elected was the worst possible thing for him,” says one Utah political insider. “Under a Hillary Clinton presidency, he would have had a nightly gig on Fox News. It would have been Crooked Hillary every night. Instead he got Trump.”
Had Clinton won, Chaffetz would have used the platform to attack the administration at every turn, the subpoena power literally resting in the pen in his pocket. But now, he was suddenly limited by demands to play team ball for a team that was already struggling, fumbling healthcare right out of the gate. And whatever Trump and the fractious House Republicans did, he would be held accountable, even though he would have little control.
Being in charge of investigating allegations of government impropriety against the famously vindictive Trump is bad enough. Add to that fact that 97 percent of Republicans in a recent survey still support him and that alone could account for Chaffetz’s desire to get out.
The self-aggrandizing congressman might also have gotten tired of the humble image he’s created for himself by refusing to rent or purchase a house in the D.C. area. Instead, he sleeps in his office.
“I’m turning 50 and I’m sleeping on a cot,” he told the Deseret News. “Maybe it’s time to reevaluate my life.”
Other legit theories are that Chaffetz is getting ready to run for Utah governor in 2020 or Utah senator in 2018, although he has denied such claims. He has, however, registered web domains in the event that he chooses to do so.
But the abruptness of Chaffetz’s withdrawal has also generated some alternative and unbelievable explanations. Louise Mensch, a former Conservative British member of Parliament who has somehow transformed herself into a hero for anti-Trump conspiracy theorists, has been testing out various allegations against Chaffetz on Twitter.
He’s certainly been on her mind for quite some time.
“I think Chaffetz may be gay and in the closet. Would hurt with his base,” Mensch wrote on Twitter Feb. 1. “Nothing at all wrong with being gay. but exposure might hurt Chaffetz politically,” she added.
“I’m totally serious. Chaffetz acts like a man being blackmailed,” she wrote a few days later.
Mensch also appeared to believe that the FBI is investigating Chaffetz for using an illegal private mail server like former secretary of state Hillary Clinton did.
On Thursday she cited someone else claiming that Chaffetz was being blackmailed by the Russian government for allegedly having an affair. That couldn’t be true, Mensch said, because the Russians allegedly have evidence for Chaffetz’s being involved in a money-laundering scheme.
No one has presented any evidence for these claims and it’s unlikely that someone will. But it is certainly a karmic reversal to see Chaffetz, one of the foremost propagators of the Benghazi conspiracy theory, getting a taste of his own medicine.
Matthew Sheffield
A writer, web developer, and former tv producer, Matthew Sheffield covers politics, media, and technology for Salon. You can email him via m.sheffield@salon.com or follow him on Twitter
