SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Jason Chaffetz said Wednesday he's "not closing the door" on the congressional committee he chairs someday investigating President-elect Donald Trump but for now sees him as a private citizen.

"How can you possibly have done something wrong when you haven't been sworn in yet?" the Utah Republican said of the calls from Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to examine Trump's business interests.

But Chaffetz said he isn't dropping the committee's investigations into Trump's Democratic opponent in the race for the White House, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Just because there was a political election doesn't mean justice stops," he said.

However, Trump is in a "whole different realm" as a "private citizen" than Clinton, he said, noting that the president-elect recently pledged to dissolve the Trump Foundation and is "still in transition mode" until he's sworn in Jan. 20.

"To compare the two is absurd. They're totally different scenarios. She was a federal employee running one of the biggest agencies," Chaffetz said. "We are still having to clean up the mess she left at the State Department. We're still looking at that."

Trump's statements last month making it clear he did not want to go after Clinton despite having led chants of "lock her up" during the campaign had no impact on the committee's work, Chaffetz said.

"We're not done with several investigations that are open. We have a duty and an obligation to the legislative branch to close those out," he said, including a former Clinton aide, Bryan Pagliano, ignoring a congressional subpoena.

Before the election, Chaffetz said he'd be like "a kid in a candy store" as the committee chairman if Trump were elected, promising "some very interesting hearings, and more bipartisan support than ever if that happens."

He also said he planned years of investigations into a President Hillary Clinton, having already started looking at issues surrounding her use of a private email server as secretary of state and other actions.

Now, Democrats want him to take a look at Trump, a billionaire businessman with dealings in a number of foreign countries who has yet to detail how he will detach himself from his holdings as president.

The committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., formally asked in November for an investigation into how Trump intended to avoid conflicts of interest as president.

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Chaffetz: I'm going to be 'kid in a candy store' as Oversight chairman with a President Trump

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said Monday that if he's re-elected to Congress, his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee would be just as tough on a President Donald Trump as it would be on a President Hillary Clinton.

Calling for the committee to get involved before Trump takes office is "pretty shallow and desperate," Chaffetz said. He said he didn't know whether he would look at those concerns once Trump is sworn in.

"I don't know yet. His only obligation is to follow the law. Presidents actually have more latitude than anyone else in government," Chaffetz said. "I'm not closing the door on anything, but I'm also not announcing we're doing anything yet."

His hope, Chaffetz said, is that the committee will focus more on government reform during the Trump administration, including looking at ways to curb sexual harassment in the federal workplace.

"I'm optimistic we can change things for the good of the country," Chaffetz said.

An investigation by the Federal Election Commission into a formal complaint against Chaffetz by his primary challenger, Chia-Chi Teng, was closed earlier this month. Teng alleged Chaffetz misused campaign funds.

The commission said in a letter to Chaffetz that there "is no reason to believe" he violated federal law in connection with reimbursements to a Utah hotel, and for childcare expenses and personal credit card charges.

An allegation related to his personal use of a campaign committee-owned vehicle was dismissed while the commission was "equally divided" over whether Chaffetz's hotel stays in Washington, D.C., were in violation, the letter stated.

"I'm glad to have it behind me," Chaffetz said. "It does feel good to have the FEC say we were right."

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