Confirmed: Boehner Taps Gowdy To Chair Select Committee

Debra Heine

In response to Boehner On the Hot Seat,Benghazi Investigation Begins To Take Form:

Speaker Boehner this afternoon confirmed that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) is his choice to head the Select Committee to investigate the Benghazi. 

“With four of our countrymen killed at the hands of terrorists, the American people want answers, accountability, and justice,” Boehner said in his press release. “Trey Gowdy is as dogged, focused, and serious-minded as they come.  His background as a federal prosecutor and his zeal for the truth make him the ideal person to lead this panel. I know he shares my commitment to get to the bottom of this tragedy and will not tolerate any stonewalling from the Obama administration.  I plan to ensure he and his committee have the strongest authority possible to root out all the facts.  This is a big job, but Rep. Gowdy has the confidence of this conference, and I know his professionalism and grit will earn him the respect of the American people.”

Interestingly, Gowdy has blasted House “leadership” in the past for not being as aggressive as he would have liked in investigating the Obama administration’s various scandals. 

In an interview with Ginny Simone of NRA News in May of 2012, for instance, he vented his frustration with House leadership for not moving forward with any actions against Atty General Eric Holder in the Fast and Furious investigation. 

On the question of moving on to the next step of holding Holder accountable, Gowdy had this to say:


“Congressman Issa is prepared to move forward – Congressman Issa has  been prepared to move forward. – when I say leadership, I mean, really –leadership. Chairman Issa is part of the solution and not part of the problem….”


He later noted that Holder would only put up, or step down if he believed Congress was serious.

“There is some merit to keeping some of your attention on November – you certainly don’t want to commit unforced errors.  On the other hand, how are you going to persuade people to let you govern, have all the gears of governance, if you’re not going to do anything right, or principled when you have the majority? There is no argument on the other side in compliance with a subpoena. I mean there is no argument!  I mean anarchy is the only argument on the other side. So if we’re not willing to press the issue, are your listeners going to have any confidence that we’ll be bold and courageous if they give us the the White House and the Senate? I mean, why would they?!”

On June 28, 2012, the House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in Civil and Criminal Contempt of Congress.

Last Wednesday in an interview on Fox News after the Judicial Watch Benghazi documents were released, Gowdy blasted the House leadership again:

…it’s been 20 months!” Gowdy later exclaimed, “And we didn’t even get this email! Congress is supposed to provide the oversight – not Judicial Watch!”

“You would hope that my colleagues in the House – particularly the leadership, would be so infuriated that a private entity is getting more information from this administration than we are, that we would actually start using the tools that we have at our disposal to compel the information being produced. If this email existed for 20 months and we just got it, what else exists that we don’t know about,” Gowdy concluded.

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