Months after his resignation, Jason Chaffetz speaks to crowd in Provo
Jason Chaffetz addresses the attendees of the Utah County Republican Women event at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
Jason Chaffetz pauses during the Utah County Republican Women event to hear questions from attendees at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
Julie Chaffetz listens as her husband, Jason Chaffetz, addresses the crowd at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
Suzanne Merrill addresses the crowd before Jason Chaffetz at the Provo City Library on Monday. The event was put on by the Utah County Republican Women group.
Jason Chaffetz addresses the attendees of the Utah County Republican Women event at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
Visitors listen to Jason Chaffetz during the event put on by the Utah County Republican Women group at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
Jason Chaffetz addresses the attendees of the Utah County Republican Women event at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. Chaffetz focused the talk on his personal story and also on his work in Congress.
Honor Guard Kraig A. Thorne bows his head during the prayer at the start of the Utah County Republican Women event at the Provo City Library on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018.
What has Jason Chaffetz been up to since he resigned from Congress at the end of June?
Besides appearing on Fox News almost every day as a contributor, he’s been able to spend “day in and day out” with his wife, Julie, Chaffetz told a crowd of several hundred at the Provo Library Monday. Chaffetz was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting for the Utah County Republican Women.
Chaffetz said he’s been enjoying the time spent at home, noting that if he hadn’t resigned from Congress, he would have been in Washington D.C. the last two weeks, missing his daughter’s 17th birthday last week.
“There comes a point where you sour a little bit,” Chaffetz said. “I was very frustrated with what was happening and what was not happening in the administration — the Trump administration. I was beyond frustrated with the Obama administration, their lack of response, but then I came to realize that even though they changed out the presidency, they didn’t change out the bureaucracy.”
Chaffetz said he has always believed politicians should “get in and get out,” and said he had also met with news organizations CNN and NBC before ultimately accepting an offer to work as a contributor for Fox News.
“Two of those networks gave me offers, and I felt the most comfortable with Fox News,” Chaffetz said.
When later asked about where to get the most unbiased news, Chaffetz laughed and said he “obviously” would recommend Fox News.
But when a follow-up question asked how to get Bill O’Reilly back on the network, Chaffetz didn’t defend the former Fox News host who was fired from the network in April amid sexual harassment allegations.
“As much as I may have appreciated certain commentary from certain people, if — if — they were engaged in that kind of nefarious activity, you should have to pay the price,” Chaffetz said.
Chaffetz did have kind words for the Republican who ultimately won the special election to replace him.
“I’m not the only person who can do this job,” Chaffetz said. “John Curtis is a wonderful human being, he’s got a great family. I really like him. He’s going to make decisions and approach things differently than I would, OK. That’s alright.”
While Chaffetz said he may or may not run for political office again, one office he does not seem to have his eye on is the Senate seat that is being left empty by Sen. Orrin Hatch, whose term ends this year.
One audience member questioned Chaffetz on his thoughts about the probability of Mitt Romney becoming Utah’s next Senator, and whether he would get along with Trump.
Chaffetz said he was excited by the prospect of Romney’s running for the seat and winning.
“I think he needs to go explain to people in Utah why he’s doing this,” Chaffetz said. “And if he’s just there to antagonize the president, I don’t think that’s going to fly. I don’t think that’s the case though.”
Chaffetz said there is a dearth of leadership in the U.S. Senate that Romney could fill.
“(Romney) could have the potential to be one of the biggest, loudest, strongest, proactive voices,” Chaffetz said. “A couple years ago, how excited were we that he had the potential to be President of the United States?”
Chaffetz also previewed his forthcoming book, which he says is still untitled but will tell stories that help “peel back the onion” to help people understand how the deep state works.
In particular, Chaffetz said it will detail his trip to Lybia following the 2012 Benghazi attacks that left four Americans dead. Chaffetz used his position as the chair of the house oversight and government reform committee to investigate the U.S. government’s response to those attacks, particularly that of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
