Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that he has offered to represent Donald Trump in the former president’s second impeachment trial, asserting that he would be willing to resign from his seat in the House of Representatives “if the law requires it.”
In an interview on FoxNews on Wednesday, Gaetz said he offered to represent Trump “weeks ago” but has not been asked to join Trump’s legal team.Â
Gaetz stated he communicated the offer through two separate intermediaries: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff.
Gaetz said that “the conversations ceased” once “ethics advised that sitting House members couldn’t do it.”
Gaetz said he viewed the “cancellation of the Trump presidency and the Trump movement as one of the biggest threats” to his district.
“If the president called me and wanted me to go defend him on the floor of the Senate, that would be the top priority in my life,” Gaetz declared.Â
“I only regret that I have but one political career to give to my president,” Gaetz told Fox News.
Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate is scheduled to begin February 9. Last Tuesday, 45 of 50 Senate Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss the trial. Consequently, it appears highly unlikely that Trump will be convicted, as it would require the votes of at least 17 Republican senators. Trump is expected to be represented by trial lawyers David Schoen and Bruce L. Castor, Jr. during the proceedings.Â