Former House Benghazi Czar Trey Gowdy may take over the chair of the House Oversight Committee, and Politico is right on the spot with a lavish tongue bath. Gowdy is soooo independent that even though he was a member of the Trump transition executive committee, the Trump White House is afeared of his ferocious oversight, we learn from the crackerjack reporting of Kyle Cheney and Austin Wright:
Gowdy “has never met Mr. Trump,” Gonzalez added. “He has never been to the White House. He has no relationship with the president, nor has he ever spoken directly to the president.”
Question: Is he a loyal member of the Republican Party, which has been carefully shielding Trump so he’ll be available and willing to sign off on their tax-breaks-for-the-rich-and-cuts-for-the-poor policies? Yes. Yes, he is.
This independence has not been lost on the White House, which is tracking the congressional Russia investigations closely. One administration official told POLITICO he worries that Gowdy could turn into a headache for Trump since he is not driven by loyalty to the president and knows how to run a thorough investigation that could take months, if not years.
Small difference: Gowdy’s Benghazi investigation took a long time because 1) he was looking for a smoking gun that simply wasn’t there and 2) he slow-walked it to damage Hillary Clinton. Now, maybe Gowdy ends up deciding that it’s better for his political future within the Republican Party to seriously investigate Trump, but if that happens, Trump is already cooked. Gowdy or any other Republican being willing to challenge Trump will only come after Trump is in too much trouble to save.
Gowdy also appears sensitive to the charge that he’s too focused on leaks.
During a House Intelligence Committee hearing last week, as he grilled former CIA Director John Brennan, Gowdy intentionally saved his questions about leaks of classified intelligence for the end, telling Brennan, with a sly smile, that he didn’t want to be accused of concentrating too much on the issue.
Ah, a sly smile, as in “we all know this is what I care about but I’m trying to look like a Serious Investigator so I’m trying to make it look like an afterthought.” Gowdy should know plenty about leaks, considering the volume of them that came from his side of the Benghazi committee.
One thing that could be worth watching: If Gowdy chairs Oversight, he will once again be up against ranking member Elijah Cummings, who also served that role on the Benghazi committee. It was not a contrast that was to Gowdy’s advantage.