Remember when Trey “Benghazi” Gowdy said he was retiring several days ago to focus on “the justice system”? Yeah, well it seems ever more clear that he doesn’t think the memo cooked up by White House stooge Devin Nunes is delivering the justice he thinks is deserved.
Too late to stop the train, Trey. Your caucus and the master it serves—Donald Trump—are already using the memo you were complicit in creating to justify the removal of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Next up for the GOP hatchet mob: Robert Mueller.
When Gowdy announced his retirement earlier this week, he wrote, “I will be returning to the justice system. Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress.” Taken together—the timing of his retirement, the statement he put out, and his tweets today—are a clear indication that even Trey “Benghazi” Gowdy thinks Republicans have gone off the rails here.
In fact, Gowdy is the only member of the House Intelligence panel to have read the sensitive materials used to inform the memo. Nunes delegated that job to him. At best, he thinks the memo he aided Nunes in creating has taken on more import than he intended. At worst, he believes that the politics surrounding the memo have taken a very seedy and even dangerous turn.
Whatever the case, Gowdy retired to protect his future. And one thing that’s at least worth considering here, is that he also wants out in order to insulate himself from any legal liability—which some experts believe is quickly attaching itself to Devin Nunes. Think Mark Corallo here—who immediately resigned following that critical Air Force One scene in which he worried that Trump and his aides were potentially committing obstruction.
This is pure speculation—but don’t be surprised if many months from now Trey Gowdy turns back up in the headlines in relation to the obstruction case.