Today on Face The Nation, Trey Gowdy said that the Benghazi Committee’s investigation is not interested in Hillary Clinton’s emails or the Clinton Foundation—a statement that is directly contradicted by Gowdy’s 9-hour deposition of Sidney Blumenthal, in which Republican Committee members asked Blumenthal hundreds of questions about his email communication with Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.
“Trey Gowdy is delusional if he thinks the Benghazi Committee’s partisan curtain hasn’t been lifted. The investigation into the tragic events in Benghazi stopped long ago, while the true focus of the Committee’s partisan, taxpayer-funded effort being to target Hillary Clinton,” said David Brock, founder of Correct The Record. “Through their actions, the Republicans have guaranteed that this Committee’s work will be remembered as a political witch hunt, spurred by leaked information, cheap partisan hackery and the long-debunked notion that this would ever be a fair investigation.”
“Hillary Clinton will testify before this sham Committee this week as she has been asking to do all along. After that testimony it’s time for this Committee to be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.”
For a quick look at the Benghazi Committee’s true interests, see a breakdown of the questions asked during Sidney Blumenthal’s deposition below:
- More than 160 questions on Blumenthal’s relationship and communication with the Clintons;
- More than 50 questions on the Clinton Foundation;
- More than 45 questions about David Brock and affiliated organizations;
- Less than 20 questions about the Benghazi attacks;
- Only 4 questions about security in Benghazi;
- Exactly 0 questions about Ambassador Stevens and the U.S. presence and personnel in Benghazi.
For more information on Trey Gowdy’s false claim that he has not focused on Hillary Clinton’s email, see Correct The Record’s analysis below:
False Gowdy Claim: Gowdy Says He Has not Focused on Hillary’s Email
Trey Gowdy must think repeating a lie makes that lie a truth. In order to deflect criticism that his slow-moving, investigation is a partisan witch hunt, Gowdy claims over and over that he is not focused on Hillary Clinton’s emails and is not investigating the emails. Gowdy even encourages us “to look at what is done” instead of what is said.
The problem is, Trey Gowdy’s actions point to a serious obsession with Hillary Clinton’s emails. However many times he says it, it is not going to come true.
Hillary Clinton’s Emails in Trey Gowdy’s World
Trey Gowdy: “Our committee is the committee on Benghazi, not the committee on emails.” “Gowdy said Mills was not asked any questions about private email use until the end of the nine-and-a-half hour interview. ‘Our committee is the committee on Benghazi, not the committee on emails,’ he said.” [ABC News, 9/4/15]
Trey Gowdy: “The email is a very small part of what we’re doing.” “‘Before the email story happened, nobody really paid a lot of attention to our committee,’ Gowdy said. ‘It wasn’t in the news. I get why people are interested in that. But the email is a very small part of what we’re doing. In fact, if it doesn’t relate to Libya or Benghazi emails, it’s no part of our committee.’” [The State, 10/1/15]
Reality
26 of the most recent 29 public statements by Trey Gowdy and his Benghazi Committee have specifically mentioned Hillary Clinton or her email:
3/4/2015: Statement from the Communications Director on Clinton Email Addresses
3/4/2015: Statement from the Communications Director on Subpoena Issuance
3/5/2015: Statement from the Communications Director on Clinton’s Emails
3/10/2015: Gowdy Statement on Clinton Press Conference
3/20/2015: Select Committee on Benghazi Formally Requests Clinton Turn Over Server to Neutral Third Party
3/27/2015: Statement Regarding Subpoena Compliance and Server Determination by Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
3/31/2015: Select Committee Formally Requests Secretary Clinton Interview on Email Arrangement
4/22/2015: Statement on Response from Clinton Lawyer
4/23/2015: Select Committee on Benghazi Calls Clinton to Testify
5/8/2015: Select Committee Releases Interim Progress Update
5/14/2015: Benghazi Committee Releases Letter on State Department Compliance Failure, Clinton
5/22/2015: Statement on the Release of Secretary Clinton’s Benghazi Emails
6/16/2015: Select Committee Obtains New Blumenthal Emails Before Deposition
6/22/2015: Select Committee Adds to Secretary Clinton’s Public Email Record
6/23/2015: State Department Fails to Answer on New Clinton Emails
6/25/2015: State Confirms Clinton Failed to Turn Over ALL Benghazi and Libya Documents
7/7/2015: Gowdy Statement in Response to Clinton Comments on the Benghazi Committee
7/8/2015: Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Clinton Subpoena
7/24/2015: Statement by Chairman Gowdy on Reports of Classified Information in Secretary Clinton’s Emails
7/25/2015: Statement from Select Committee Communications Director Regarding Clinton’s Testimony
7/29/2015: Select Committee Confirms Date for Appearance by Former Secretary of State Clinton
8/11/2015: Gowdy Statement on Secretary Clinton’s Decision to Turn over Server to the Department of Justice
9/11/2015: Gowdy Statement on Anniversaries of 9/11 and Benghazi Attacks
9/25/2015: Statement from the Communications Director on State Department Turning Over New, Previously Withheld Clinton Benghazi Emails
10/5/2015: Statement from the Communications Director on Democrats’ Announced Transcript Plan
10/8/2015: Benghazi Committee Informs State Department of Intent to Add to Public Record with Release of New Clinton Emails
Trey Gowdy has directed the committee with an almost exclusive focus on Hillary Clinton’s email since March:
Trey Gowdy demanded Hillary Clinton turn over her email server. “‘Though Secretary Clinton alone is responsible for causing this issue, she alone does not get to determine its outcome,’ said Gowdy, R-S.C. ‘That is why in the interest of transparency for the American people, I am formally requesting she turn the server over to the State Department’s inspector general or a mutually agreeable third party. ‘An independent analysis of the private server Secretary Clinton used for the official conduct of U.S. government business is the best way to remove politics and personal consideration from the equation. Having a neutral, third-party arbiter such as the State Department IG do a forensic analysis and document review is an eminently fair and reasonable means to determine what should be made public.” [Select Committee on Benghazi Formally Requests Clinton Turn Over Server to Neutral Third Party, 3/20/15]
Trey Gowdy insisted on multiple appearances from Hillary Clinton as a result of her email setup. “Because Secretary Clinton has created more questions than answers, the Select Committee is left with no choice but to call her to appear at least twice. The first appearance will be to clear up her role and resolve issues surrounding her exclusive use of personal email to conduct official business. This is necessary to establish our Committee has a complete record with respect to Secretary Clinton’s time in office. Our committee will then call her to appear before the Committee in a public hearing to answer questions specifically regarding Libya and the Benghazi terrorist attacks that took the lives of our four brave fellow citizens.” [Gowdy Statement on Clinton Press Conference, 3/10/15]
Trey Gowdy demanded Hillary Clinton appear in a private interview about her emails. “Toward that end and because of the Secretary’s unique arrangement with herself as it relates to public records during and after her tenure as Secretary of State, this Committee is left with no alternative but to request Secretary Clinton appear before this Committee for a transcribed interview to better understand decisions the Secretary made relevant to the creation, maintenance, retention, and ultimately deletion of public records.” [Select Committee Formally Requests Secretary Clinton Interview on Email Arrangement, 3/31/15]
Trey Gowdy called for the FBI to turn the email server over to the inspector general to review the public record. “The completeness or the wholeness of the record, I frankly don’t think that’s what the bureau is looking into. That’s what the inspector general wanted to look into. And when the bureau was through with the server, I hope they will turn that server over to the inspector general, so they can determine whether or not the record is full and complete.” [Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, 8/16/15]
Trey Gowdy responded directly to an interview Hillary Clinton gave about her emails. “Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy issued the following statement in response to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments regarding the Select Committee on Benghazi as part of an interview: ‘Secretary Clinton had a statutory duty to preserve records from her time in office, she had a legal duty to cooperate and tell the truth with congressional investigators requesting her records, and she was personally subpoenaed the moment the Benghazi Committee became aware of her exclusive use of personal email and a server, and that the State department was not the custodian of her official record. ‘For more than two years, Clinton never availed herself of the opportunity, even in response to a direct congressional inquiry, to inform the public of her unusual email arrangement designed to evade public transparency. The State Department, which should have informed congressional investigators years ago, failed to do so either.” [Gowdy Statement in Response to Clinton Comments on the Benghazi Committee, 7/7/15]
Trey Gowdy made a public show of his subpoena for Hillary Clinton’s emails in response to a campaign interview. “‘The committee has issued several subpoenas, but I have not sought to make them public,’ said committee Chairman Trey Gowdy. ‘I would not make this one public now, but after Secretary Clinton falsely claimed the committee did not subpoena her, I have no choice in order to correct the inaccuracy. The committee immediately subpoenaed Clinton personally after learning the full extent of her unusual email arrangement with herself, and would have done so earlier if the State Department or Clinton had been forthcoming that State did not maintain custody of her records and only Secretary Clinton herself had her records when Congress first requested them.’” [Select Committee on Benghazi Releases Clinton Subpoena, 7/8/15]
Trey Gowdy abandoned plans to hold 11 hearings in order to focus on Hillary Clinton’s emails. “At the beginning of this year, Select Committee Republicans provided Democrats with detailed information about their plans to hold 11 hearings between January and October on a wide range of topics relating to the Benghazi attacks. Since then, however, Republicans have completely abandoned this plan—holding no hearings at all since January and instead focusing on former Secretary Hillary Clinton. Amazingly, the last eight press releases on the Select Committee’s webpage deal entirely with Secretary Clinton.” [Republicans Abandon Plan for Benghazi Hearings to Focus on Clinton, 7/15/15]
Trey Gowdy unilaterally issued a subpoena ordering the IT staffer who maintained Hillary Clinton’s email server to appear before the Committee. “The letter from Mr. Pagliano’s attorneys expresses concern about ‘the current political environment.’ In fact, Chairman Gowdy ordered Mr. Pagliano’s deposition through a subpoena that he issued unilaterally on August 11, 2015, with no debate or vote by the Select Committee. In addition, when asked during a nationally televised interview five days after issuing this subpoena what the email matter has to do ‘with investigating what happened around Benghazi,’ Chairman Gowdy responded, ‘Well, probably not much of anything.’” [Cummings Releases Memo on IT Staffer’s Fifth Amendment Assertion, 9/2/15]
Trey Gowdy “insisted that [his committee] be allowed to ask questions about the email record” as terms of Hillary Clinton’s testimony. “The Benghazi committee will also be the venue for Mrs. Clinton’s highly anticipated testimony on Capitol Hill next month, where she’s expected to face tough questions about the attack and her decision to use a personal server. In a letter negotiating the terms of Mrs. Clinton’s appearance, her attorney initially asked for questions to be confined to Benghazi, but the committee insisted that it be allowed to ask questions about the email record. Mrs. Clinton eventually agreed to the appearance.” [Wall Street Journal, 9/9/15]
Trey Gowdy touted his Committee’s discovery of the email setup to justify its continuing investigation. “But lo and behold, we find something that all seven of those other committees that she claims looked into Benghazi never found. So, we’re going to follow the facts wherever they go and if that impacts people’s perception of her fitness to be commander-in-chief, so be it. I can just tell you this, for the first three public hearings, I never mentioned her name.” [Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, 8/16/15]
Trey Gowdy held a 9-hour deposition with Sidney Blumenthal to ask hundreds of questions about his relationship with Hillary Clinton and their email exchanges. “The transcript of Blumenthal’s deposition includes hundreds of questions posed by Republicans during the day-long session, including the following: Blumenthal’s relationship/communications with the Clintons—more than 160 Benghazi attacks – less than 20 The Clinton Foundation—more than 50 Security in Benghazi—4 Blumenthal’s alleged business activities in Libya—more than 270 The U.S. presence in Benghazi—0 David Brock, Media Matters, and affiliated entities—more than 45 Ambassador Stevens and other U.S. personnel in Benghazi—0.” [Blumenthal Deposition Transcript Ready for Release, 6/19/15]
Trey Gowdy planned to call Heather Samuelson to testify about sorting Hillary Clinton’s emails. “The House Benghazi Committee plans to ask Heather Samuelson to testify about the process by which she sifted through Clinton’s 60,000 emails and sorted them as work-related or ‘personal,’ POLITICO has learned. And across the Hill campus, a source said Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans also want to know more about Samuelson’s work after she joined Clinton at the State Department following her 2008 campaign.” [Politico, 9/28/15]
Trey Gowdy’s former staffer revealed that “the committee trained its sights almost exclusively on Clinton after the revelation last March that she used a private email server.” “Maj. Bradley Podliska, an intelligence officer in the Air Force Reserve who describes himself as a conservative Republican, told CNN that the committee trained its sights almost exclusively on Clinton after the revelation last March that she used a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. That new focus flipped a broad-based probe of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, into what Podliska described as ‘a partisan investigation.’ Podliska, who was fired after nearly 10 months as an investigator for the Republican majority, is now preparing to file a lawsuit against the select committee next month, alleging that he lost his job in part because he resisted pressure to focus his investigative efforts solely on the State Department and Clinton’s role surrounding the Benghazi attack.” [CNN, 10/11/15]
Trey Gowdy “pulled resources away from probes of other individuals and agencies to focus almost exclusively on Clinton and the State Department” after news outlets reported on her emails. “Maj. Bradley Podliska, an intelligence officer in the Air Force Reserve who describes himself as a conservative Republican, told CNN that the committee trained its sights almost exclusively on Clinton after the revelation last March that she used a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. […] Podliska told CNN that the committee, which has spent $4.6 million so far and is chaired by Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, pulled resources away from probes of other individuals and agencies to focus almost exclusively on Clinton and the State Department she helmed for four years. Clinton will testify before the committee for the first time Oct. 22, and the committee is set to release the findings of its investigation next year, in the heat of the presidential race.” [Politico, 10/11/15]