Certainly, Chaffetz has not closed the door on future political bids, including for Utah governor in 2020. His campaign site, jasoninthehouse.com, briefly redirected to jasonforgovernor.com (both have now been shut down). And while he’s been vague about his ambitions to return to office at some point, he was definitive that his sudden exit was not prompted by scandal. “I’ve been given more enemas by more people over the last eight years than you can possibly imagine,” Chaffetz told Politico. “If they had something really scandalous, it would’ve come out a long, long time ago.”
There is another possibility. According to two GOP lawmakers who have spoken to Chaffetz directly and four senior House Republican aides, Chaffetz has been telling people he’ll take on what one source calls a “substantial role” in on-air talent at Fox News Channel, possibly as early as July, amplifying whispers that Chaffetz will not finish out his current term.
Chaffetz, 50, has said on Facebook he made “a personal decision to return to the private sector.” Some observers in Utah speculated that he might join Fox News in some capacity. His announcement came the same day as the network revealed it would cut ties with Bill O’Reilly.
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