Friday, May 19, 2017
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY
Rep. Jason Chaffetz announced Thursday he will resign from Congress next month, saying a “mid-life crisis” compelled him to step away from his chairmanship of the House Oversight Committee as it is poised to launch an investigation into President Donald Trump’s firing of the FBI director.
The announcement by Chaffetz, 50, was the latest upending of the Republican-controlled congressional investigations into Trump.
Chaffetz’s announcement came a day after he tweeted that he had invited ex-FBI Director James Comey to testify next week at a hearing of the oversight committee he leads.
Comey was fired last week amid an FBI investigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign associates colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election outcome to benefit him.
The Utah Republican, who had just started his fifth term in Congress, used his post as chair of the oversight committee to doggedly investigate Hillary Clinton before the 2016 presidential election and raise his political profile.
But Trump complicated Chaffetz’s life. He rescinded his endorsement of Trump last year after recordings surfaced of the reality-show star bragging about groping women, only to hastily re-endorse Trump shortly before the FBI announced it was reviving its investigation into Clinton’s emails.
After Trump won the election, Chaffetz became a lightning rod for criticism that Republicans weren’t aggressively policing Trump.
Chavez said his last day will be June 30.