As the mother of daughters, the allegations are certainly morbid. As the Speaker noted that an ethics investigation is underway, criminal investigations are underway, and I’m not going to comment on that in public now, “Cheney said on CBS . Face the Nation.
Asked if she was surprised by the allegations, Cheney just said, “I’m not going to comment further.”
Gaetz, who is facing not only a federal investigation but is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee, was a frequent critic of Cheney and even traveled to her home state to hold a demonstration against her after she voted to remove the former. president. Donald Trump for “instigating insurrection” on January 6.
Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who also voted for impeachment and was a frequent critic of the GOP’s embrace of Trump, became the first congressional Republican to call for Gaetz to resign last week. Few GOP allies are speaking out on Gaetz’s behalf, and most Republicans are keeping quiet as the federal investigation hangs over his head.
Federal investigators are investigating allegations that Gaetz had sex with an underage girl who was 17 at the time and other women who were given drugs and money in violation of sex trafficking and prostitution laws. Federal investigators are also trying to determine whether Gaetz received travel and women in exchange for political favors as part of a wider investigation, people familiar with the investigation tell CNN.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been brought against him. In response to the ethics committee’s announcement on Friday that it was investigating Gaetz, his office told CNN that “the allegations are blatantly false and have not been validated by a single human willing to put his name behind him.”
Gaetz made his first public appearance since news of the investigation was out, hitting a defiant tone at a conservative summit at Trump’s Miami golf resort Friday night.
“The slander against me ranges from disturbances in my personal life to savage, and I mean wild conspiracy theories,” said the Florida Republican at the “Save America Summit” held by Women for America First in Trump National Doral.
During Sunday’s interview, Cheney also joined Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson to rebuke Trump’s recent comments. During a Republican National Committee donor retreat on Saturday night, the former president echoed known lies about the 2020 election and insulted Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a person in the chamber told CNN.
“The former president uses the same language that he knows triggered violence on January 6,” Cheney said.
“As a party we must be forward-looking.”
CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.
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