House Select Committee on Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) lost his temper during Thursday’s hearings, during an exchange with California Democrat Adam Schiff. When Schiff noted that the investigation was being conducted as a prosecution of then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gowdy got defensive and lost his cool.
Responding to Schiff’s assertion, Gowdy raged:
There is no theory of the prosecution, Mr. Schiff, because there is no prosecution. There’s a very big difference between a prosecution where you’ve already have reached a conclusion and you’re just trying to prove it to people…
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This is not a prosecution, Mr. Schiff. You and I are both familiar with ’em. I reached no conclusions and I would advise you to not reach any conclusions either until we reach the end. There are 20 more witnesses so I’ll agree to not to reach any conclusions if you’ll do the same.
Gowdy and fellow Republicans became increasingly agitated as Thursday’s hearings wore on. Hillary Clinton schooled the panel repeatedly. A seemingly frustrated Trey Gowdy went on the defensive from the outset, insisting repeatedly that the investigation was not about Hillary Clinton and denying that the hearing was politically motivated.
Yet the more that Gowdy and his sycophants fumed, the clearer it became that the committee’s sole purpose was to try to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her misdeeds, be they real or imagined. Gowdy’s impotent rage highlighted the chairman’s thin skin. Ironically, Gowdy crumbled in the face of mild criticism, even though the accusations that his actions were politically motivated were true and patently obvious to anybody but the most die-hard Republican partisan.
Trey Gowdy and House Republicans have cynically tried to exploit the Benghazi attack to try to pummel Hillary Clinton and influence the outcome of the 2016 election. They may succeed in influencing the outcome of the election, but perhaps not in the way they had intended. Gowdy can scream and holler that the investigation isn’t a prosecution of Hillary Clinton, but his protests are not fooling anybody. Gowdy’s insistent denial of what is absurdly obvious, only reveals how pathetically insignificant he and his phony investigative committee have become.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
