Trey “Benghazi” Gowdy, who joined Fox about a minute after leaving Congress, supposedly because he hated being a partisan, is now working to help Donald Trump avoid accountability in the impeachment inquiry.
The Washington Post reminds us of the 2012 Congressman Gowdy:
“The notion that you can withhold information and documents from Congress no matter whether you are the party in power or not in power is wrong,” Gowdy said in 2012, as a House panel moved to hold then-Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt for failing to cooperate with its probe of a botched gunrunning operation. “Respect for the rule of law must mean something, irrespective of the vicissitudes of political cycles.”
Oh, but that was so President Barack Obama ago.
As Ellen wrote in February 2019, shortly after Gowdy became a Fox News contributor:
In case you’ve forgotten, Gowdy headed the Benghazi committee that spent more than $7 million without uncovering anything new about the attack or any evidence of wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton. As Media Matters noted, once Hillary Clinton lost the election, Gowdy lost interest in Benghazi.
In 2018, when Gowdy explained to Fox News host Martha MacCallum why he had decided to retire from Congress, he suggested his conscience was bothering him about being a total partisan:
GOWDY: How you conduct yourself matters. And we're in a society and a culture that values winning. Professional wrestling is really popular. Cheating to win, getting away with committing penalties. I think the way we do things matters. … And I don't think winning is the ultimate objective. I think the ultimate objective is to lead a honorable life.
Well, Gowdy seems to have had quite a change of heart. Media Matters sums up the new, new Gowdy:
Since The Wall Street Journal reported on September 20 that the whistleblower complaint involved Trump pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, leading to the inquiry announced on September 24, Gowdy has gone on Fox to slam Democrats for “mishandling this investigation,” make dishonest comparisons between Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former President Barack Obama, lend credibility to a conspiracy theory pushed by the president, and single out some of Trump’s favorite targets for attack.
Gowdy will now undoubtedly help Trump stonewall the impeachment inquiry.
Gowdy may have had good intentions when he decided to leave Congress. But the old saying, about the road to you-know-where being paved with good intentions, probably couldn’t be more apt.
Hope you like the heat Gowdy. Because you’ve sold your soul to Trump and you’re not going to get another chance to tell us how much you care about principles.
Watch the video below that Fox News posted yesterday about Gowdy’s new gig.
Gowdy was so strong on noble principles during the “try-and-try-again” Benghazi investigations. I trust that the media, including FNC, will air the videos. Oh, wait. That was definitely a Pollyanna-sort of musing.
Times and sensibilities have moved on, of course, but I can certainly identify with the pent-up excitement of the trampled masses as they watched the hated aristos climb the steps to Madame La Guillotine.
