Today, Trey Gowdy appeared on Morning Joe in a desperate attempt at damage control. After Kevin McCarthy let slip that the Benghazi Committee is nothing more than a political smear campaign targeting Hillary Clinton, Gowdy took several liberties with the facts in an attempt to put toothpaste back into the tube—he particularly plead ignorance about the Benghazi Committee’s clear and dogged focus on Hillary Clinton and her emails.
Here’s a quick breakdown of Trey Gowdy’s comments this morning—and the facts that clearly undermine Gowdy’s account:
| Gowdy, Today on “Morning Joe” | The Facts |
| Trey Gowdy said after the email story broke “we were pretty reluctantly brought into the Secretary Clinton part of it.” “‘I don’t know if it was Hannity pressing him, I don’t know if he got thrown off by asking to give Speaker Boehner a grade. I can’t unlock the mysteries of that. I can just tell you that if you look at what the members of our committee have done, we were pretty reluctantly brought into the Secretary Clinton part of it…’” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 10/7/15] |
The Select Committee’s first witness request was Hillary Clinton. “The Select Committee’s first witness request was for Hillary Clinton.” [Benghazi Democrats news release, 10/1/15]
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Gowdy, today: “It’s because The New York Times and AP and others broke this story that folks’ interest in Secretary Clinton picked up in this regard.” “…Gowdy added, remarking that ‘It’s because The New York Times and AP and others broke this story that folks’ interest in Secretary Clinton picked up in this regard.’” [MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 10/7/15]
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But, in the past, Trey Gowdy has credited his Committee for these discoveries. “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]
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Trey Gowdy: “In fact, we’ve had three public hearings, Joe. I’ve never mentioned her name. If you look at what we’ve done, the 50-some-odd witnesses we’ve already interviewed, not a single one has been named Clinton.” “‘When Speaker Boehner called me, he never mentioned Secretary Clinton’s name. In fact, we’ve had three public hearings, Joe. I’ve never mentioned her name. If you look at what we’ve done, the 50-some-odd witnesses we’ve already interviewed, not a single one has been named Clinton. The 50,000 documents that we have accessed that no other committee has accessed, less than 5 percent have anything to do with her.” [Politico, 10/7/15]
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22 of 27 most recent press releases issued focus on Hillary Clinton. “The Select Committee’s webpage shows that 22 of the past 27 press releases have focused on Hillary Clinton.” [Benghazi Committee Chairman Says Look at Actions, Not Words— And Democrats Agree, 10/1/15]
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]
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Trey Gowdy: We didn’t start with her [Hillary Clinton], and we’re not going to end with her.” “She was the secretary of state at all relevanttimes, so of course you have to talk to her. But we didn’t start with her, and we’re not going to end with her. In fact, I’ve been pretty patient on when she came before the committee. I still don’t have all her emails,’ he remarked to co-host Joe Scarborough.” [Politico, 10/7/15]
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The Select Committee’s first witness request was Hillary Clinton. “The Select Committee’s first witness request was for Hillary Clinton.” [Benghazi Democrats news release, 10/1/15]
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Trey Gowdy: “I’ve been pretty patient on when she came before the committee.” “In fact, I’ve been pretty patient on when she came before the committee. I still don’t have all her emails,’ he remarked to co-host Joe Scarborough.” [Politico, 10/7/15]
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Hillary Clinton: “I’ve also, for more than a year now, been asking to testify.” “I’ve also, for more than a year now, been asking to testify before the Congressional committee that is investigating the situation in Benghazi.” [CNN Interview with Wolf Blitzer, 9/17/15] |
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Trey Gowdy: “My interest in her email is in making sure that the record as it relates to Libya and Benghazi is complete and full.” “‘Because number one, you have better sources than I do, and number two, it’s not my job to look into classified information or all aspects of her email. My interest in her email is in making sure that the record as it relates to Libya and Benghazi is complete and full,’ he went on to say.” [Politico, 10/7/15]
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Trey Gowdy is also interested in making Clinton’s emails “available for the public as well as other congressional committees.” “A neutral arbiter to review the server will ensure public confidence that all of the Secretary’s public records were in fact retained, recovered and returned to the State Department. The vast majority of these records would be unrelated to the work of our Committee and hence our Committee would never seek nor inspect these documents. They would, however, be available for the public as well as other congressional committees with equities or interests in the subject matter.” [Gowdy letter to Clinton Lawyers, 3/19/15]
22 of 27 most recent press releases issued focus on Hillary Clinton. “The Select Committee’s webpage shows that 22 of the past 27 press releases have focused on Hillary Clinton.” [Benghazi Committee Chairman Says Look at Actions, Not Words— And Democrats Agree, 10/1/15]
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