The White House has retained former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy — who gained prominence in conservative circles for his bombastic performance as a Benghazi prosecutor during the Obama administration — to join his legal defense against the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Both Bloomberg and CNN reported Tuesday that President Trump had enlisted Gowdy to join his team. According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg, Gowdy is not officially joining the White House staff. Gowdy was reportedly at the White House on Tuesday just before White House counsel sent out an eight-page letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) officially declaring it has no intention of complying with the House impeachment inquiry.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted Tuesday that Gowdy had not yet been made an offer by the White House.
Gowdy has NOT been made an offer yet, per a person familiar with the discussions; he was at White House for meetings and has been approached in recent days by POTUS outside counsel. They anticipate he will say yes and believe he wants to work with them, but it isn’t done.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 8, 2019
While best-known for his role leading a House panel during the two-year long investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the attacks on the American post in Benghazi, Libya while she was head of State. The probe was widely regarded as a political stunt job to harm Clinton’s presidential campaign. Gowdy was also a member of the House Intelligence Committee when it first launched its probe into 2016 election interference.
Gowdy did not seek reelection last year in order to return to his previous work as a lawyer.
