Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was reportedly photographed reviewing a document that appears to be a draft contract to provide services—including “administration-related guidance”—to a firm affiliated with the major marijuana company Trulieve. The visible portion of the document describes a lucrative bonus if a certain “matter resolves,” with an “additional ‘Super Success Fee’” for other “exclusive policy remedies.”
Gaetz, who was President Donald Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general before he withdrew, was a rare example of a pro-legalization GOP congressman. He resigned from Congress amid unrelated controversies, but he remains a staunch Trump ally.
Details of the apparent agreement—first reported by The Daily Beast—are sparse, as the person who took a screenshot of Gaetz on his laptop during a flight was only able to capture a segment of it. It’s also unclear whether a firm hired by Trulieve sent him the proposed contract or if Gaetz himself was drafting it for consideration—and the company’s name is misspelled as “Truleive” in the available excerpt.
What the document seems to show, however, is a potential agreement where Gaetz would provide “legal representation,” “consulting” and “administration-related guidance” in lobbying efforts to a firm associated with Trulieve. It indicates that Gaetz would get $250,000 if the certain “MATTER resolves.”
What “matter” the document is referring to is unclear. But Trulieve has pushed for various federal reforms such as marijuana rescheduling and industry banking access. It also spent tens of millions of dollars on 2024 marijuana legalization ballot campaign in Florida that ultimately fell short.
The deal would also involve an additional “Super Success Fee” for “exclusive policy remedies,” but the exact dollar amount of that fee is cut off in the screenshot—with The Daily Beast reasoning that it is likely to read “$2,000,000″— and it’s not clear what those policies remedies entail.
The document was included in a reply comment from the poster of a TikTok video that’s gained national attention for other reasons, with Gaetz captured reading text messages with his mother about foreign policy and personal finance issues.
In a surprise development during Trump’s presidential campaign last year, he did endorse the Florida measure Trulieve backed, as well as federal rescheduling and allowing licensed cannabis businesses to access the banking system like other traditional companies. He’s been silent on the issue, at least publicly, since then.
Notably, Trump’s endorsement of the Florida initiative followed a meeting he had with Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, who also did not respond to a request for comment.
Unlike Trump, however, Gaetz did not back the Florida ballot measure. He didn’t speak to the merits of Amendment 3, but he said the reform should be enacted statutorily so that there’s more flexibility for the legislature to adjust the law in the future as opposed to via a constitutional amendment.
Read more at Yahoo News