This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

'I want Chaffetz out of that seat': D.C. resident starts anti-Chaffetz PAC — Courtney Tanner | The Salt Lake Tribune

"Lynette Craig has a sort-of pet name for Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz: 'would-be despot.'

" 'He doesn't come out to talk to us,' explained the District of Columbia resident, a 40-year-old stay-at home mom, during a recent trip to Salt Lake City. 'He doesn't ask our opinions on anything before he decides to win himself political points by treating us like a punching bag.'

"The 'us' she refers to are D.C. residents who, unlike inhabitants of any other city in the nation, are under direct oversight of Congress, although they have no elected representative or senator.

"Craig says Chaffetz has unjustly interfered with local laws in the district — including the city's measures on assisted suicide, gun safety and legal marijuana. To stop him, she's banded together with a small group of neighbors to create a political action committee (PAC) with a single objective: unseat the Utah conservative.

"In the three weeks since forming the PAC, they've raised $15,000. ..."

Last week, everyone was linking to this unflattering profile of Chaffetz:

The Prince of Oversight — McKay Coppins | The Atlantic

" ... 'I think the people who voted for Donald Trump went into it with eyes wide open. [Chaffetz said] Everybody knew he was rich, everybody knew he had lots of different entanglements … These other little intrigues about a wealthy family making money is a bit of a sideshow.'

"If this is not quite the attitude you're hoping to see in a designated Washington watchdog, you aren't alone. Chaffetz has spent much of the Trump presidency thus far taking flak for his apparent partisanship. In just the past month, he has been booed off the stage by constituents at a town-hall meeting, had his office flooded with angry phone calls after saying on CNN that poor Americans could afford health insurance if they simply didn't buy the latest iPhone, and found himself embroiled in a public feud with comedian Rosie O'Donnell. At home in Utah, he faces an increasingly well-funded and concerted campaign to unseat him next year, complete with a dedicated super PAC and a cast of challengers from both right and left. Their common case against Chaffetz boils down to hypocrisy: How can the same guy who was champing at the bit to expose President Clinton's sins now justify giving Trump a pass? ..."

Today, the ground seems to be shifting:

"Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said his committee would be taking action as soon as Tuesday to determine how much money former national security adviser Michael Flynn received in payments from foreign governments, and how much he might be required to remit to the U.S. ..."

" ... 'We have paperwork that's due from the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department today, but we may be doing something later this week related to his payments that he received from not only Russia but Turkey as well,' he continued. ..."

" ... Chaffetz's talk at the Judicial Watch forum, however, suggests that he's starting to reckon with the fact that the Trump administration is floundering and believes it may be time to take advantage. If he's joining up with Judicial Watch, it's a sign that some of the GOP's most tenacious opportunists have decided that their fortunes lie with the Trump opposition. ..."

This is more of the online reaction to the original Atlantic piece:

"House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who is known to be extremely interested in his job when it involves the words 'Benghazi' or 'Clinton,' was recently profiled by The Atlantic's McKay Coppins and boy, did it sure not humanize him! ..."

— Jason Chaffetz: Donald Trump can't be corrupt because "he's already rich" — Matthew Rozsa | Salon

" ... Chaffetz didn't mention that Trump may be rich because of his Russian connections — which would still constitute a massive conflict for the president. ..."

5 Trump scandals the head of the House Oversight Committee thinks are no big deal — Josh Israel and Ryan Koronowski | Think Progress

"House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz once noted that 'without transparency, an unchecked executive operating in the dark develops with no accountability to the people who fund it.'

"But as the Trump administration's mounting ethics woes dominate even the most Trump-friendly media outlets, the Utah Republican has shown little interest in digging in. ..."