Newsmax says it turned Matt Gaetz down for a job and ‘never told him we were interested’

• Newsmax said it rejected Rep. Matt Gaetz’s approach for a job at the channel.
• “Newsmax has had no plans to hire Rep. Gaetz,” a spokesperson told Reuters.
• A source at the company told Reuters they had “never told him we were interested” in hiring him.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

Conservative media outlet Newsmax turned down embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz for a job, a spokesman for the company told Reuters.

“Newsmax has had no plans to hire Rep. Gaetz,” Brian Peterson, a Newsmax spokesperson, told Reuters Monday.

Axios reported in March that the Florida Republican was eyeing an early retirement from politics to take a job at Newsmax. It cited three sources familiar with Gaetz’s conversations around the prospect of early retirement, one of whom said he had held early discussions with Newsmax about a potential role.

A source familiar with Newsmax’s policies this week confirmed that reporting, telling Reuters: “Earlier this year, [Gaetz] reached out and said he might leave Congress early and was interested in TV work.”

The source said that Newsmax management had “just a conversation” with Gaetz and “never told him we were interested” in hiring him.

It comes after Fox News also rejected the possibility of hiring Gaetz.

“No one with any level of authority has had conversations with Matt Gaetz for any of our platforms, and we have no interest in hiring him,” a spokesperson said in April.

The Axios report was published on March 30, just one day before the New York Times reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether he violated sex trafficking laws by conducting a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2019.

Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and has denied any wrongdoing, and has claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot.

Joel Greenberg, a former Florida tax collector and one of Gaetz’s associates, has pleaded guilty to charges pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child, wire fraud, identity theft, stalking, and conspiracy and part of his plea bargain could see him testify against Gaetz.

Insider first reported the details of Greenberg’s potential plea last week. Greenberg must “cooperate fully” with officials “in the investigation and prosecution of other persons” to receive the most lenient sentence.

Gaetz’s name is not mentioned in the document detailing Greenberg’s charges but the lawmaker is reportedly the target of the same criminal investigation as Greenberg, and the two men were closely associated in Florida Republican circles, Insider’s Sonam Sheth reported.

The investigation into Gaetz stemmed from the original investigation into Greenberg, Insider’s Kayla Epstein reported.