Matt Gaetz pushed a Roger Stone pardon on Air Force One — but other Republicans shut it down: book

Among the stories that Cassidy Hutchinson tells in her new book, Enough, is an incident in which Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was pushing President Donald Trump for a pardon of Roger Stone.

While it was previously known that Stone sought a pardon, this wasn't for his 2020 election and Jan. 6 activities. Gaetz was pressing Trump for the pardon on Air Force One earlier, in May of 2020.

"At one point I excused myself to call [Mark Meadows]. When I returned, I learned Matt had been lobbying the president to pardon Roger Stone. Kevin [McCarthy] and Elise [Stefanik] were looking to me almost desperately to put an end to the conversation," Hutchinson writes. "I didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, the president returned to his personal office at the front of the airplane. I glared at Matt, who responded with a flip remark: 'No guardrails when the chief is gone.'"

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Gaetz was later caught on tape promising Stone the pardon from "the boss."

When the White House team returned it was amid the Black Lives Matter protests. A story was leaked that Trump was rushed to the bunker as protesters gathered outside.

"The White House was in chaos," Hutchinson recalls. "Elise texted me to say that she was getting menacing text messages from Roger Stone. He had heard that she had pushed back when Matt had suggested on Air Force One that the president issue Roger a pardon. I told Mark about Matt’s and Roger’s inappropriate behavior with Elise when he returned from Atlanta that afternoon, but we never discussed the matter further."

At an earlier point in the book, Hutchinson recalls the curious evolution of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) from moderate to Trump loyalist.

She was invited to one of Trump's Camp David retreats with Republican members.

"We considered Rep. Elise Stefanik, of New York, a moderate. She was usually reluctant to engage with the White House, and would always decline when invited to meetings and trips on Air Force One with the president," the book explains. "Elise did accept an invitation to a Camp David retreat, until she found out that impeachment—which she was still on the fence about—would be a topic of discussion. She was furious, and accused Ben and OLA of being 'as deceitful as Trump.' A few weeks later, Elise would become one of the president’s most vocal defenders against the impeachment inquiry."

As for Gaetz, Hutchinson has a number of tales about his inappropriate behavior.

Gaetz's name was later mentioned by Hutchinson under oath as having asked for a pardon for himself. Gaetz has denied the claim.

As for Stefanik, Hutchinson recalls being pressed to contact her for a job "at Conference." Hutchinson felt like Stefanik "wasn’t 'full-blown MAGA' yet." But even after submitting her resume, and being well-received, Hutchinson never pressed the issue, bothered by what Stefanik and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) did to Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Raw Story has full coverage of Hutchinson's book Enough here.