House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy to retire

WASHINGTON — House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy announced Wednesday that he will not seek re-election this year, becoming the 22nd Republican opting to retire at the end of this Congress.

Gowdy, R-S.C., is a former prosecutor who is perhaps best known nationally for leading a congressional investigation into the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi. He served as chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, which was created in May 2014 to investigate the terrorist attacks at the U.S. compound in eastern Libya where four Americans died, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. 

The investigation revealed Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State. The revelation led to an FBI investigation of Clinton, which concluded that she had been careless but that her actions did not warrant any criminal charges.

Clinton testified before the committee in a marathon day-long session in October 2015, with Gowdy grilling her and Democrats charging that he was trying to damage Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Gowdy took over the high-profile Oversight and Government Reform Committee in January from former chairman Jason Chaffetz, who retired that month. Gowdy also served on the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee. He is currently in the middle of his fourth term.

In a tweet Wednesday, Gowdy said, “There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system.”

“Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system,” Gowdy said in a statement. “As I look back on my career, it is the jobs that both seek and reward fairness that are most rewarding.”   

Gowdy is the 19th GOP House member to announce that he would retire by the end of his term. Three Republican senators also are retiring.
 

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