Jason Chaffetz expected to announce early resignation from Congress

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT).

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is expected to announce that he’s leaving office before the end of his congressional term, Politico reported Thursday.

Sources told Politico that Chaffetz will likely resign from office on June 30.

On Tuesday, Chaffetz demanded that the FBI turn over all documents in its possession concerning communications between President Donald Trump and recently fired FBI Director James Comey. Chaffetz also asked Comey to testify before the House next week.

This came after The New York Times reported that Comey wrote memos detailing his interactions with the president. In one of these memos, Comey wrote that Trump suggested he drop the agency’s investigation into Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

On Wednesday evening, shortly after the Justice Department’s announcement that it had selected former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to oversee investigations into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Chaffetz told Fox News that he was not convinced a special counsel is necessary.

“I have not seen any evidence of actual collusion,” Chaffetz said. “Where is the actual crime that they think they need a special prosecutor to prosecute? I just haven’t seen it.”

Chaffetz also said he’s not sure the Comey memos are “real.”

“I’m not even sure that these memos even exist,” Chaffetz said, adding, “You can’t run an investigation on anonymous sources in The New York Times. That’s just not conclusive evidence.”

Chaffetz announced in April that he would not seek reelection in 2018. The Washingtonian reported on Monday that Chaffetz may join Fox News after leaving office.

Politico reporter Jake Sherman first reported on Chaffetz’s expected resignation on Thursday morning:

Chaffetz’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

JASON CHAFFETZ expected to announce today he will step down from Congress early. Comes days after Comey subpoena.His office declines comment

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 18, 2017