The Chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi, South Carolina Rp. Trey Gowdy (R).
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy gave the president and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi a dose of their own medicine Wednesday. “No, Ma’am, elections have consequences,” Gowdy said when asked if he would accommodate Pelosi’s request for an equal number of Democrats and Republicans on the new Select Committee on Benghazi.
In an interview with Megyn Kelly, host of “The Kelly File,” Gowdy addressed recent comments by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who just the other day was visibly annoyed at the journalists who questioned her on the newly released Benghazi emails. “Diversion, subterfuge, Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi. …Why aren’t we talking about something else?” Pelosi said. Now, however, she is changing her tune.
“If this review is to be fair, it must be truly bipartisan,” Pelosi said in a statement released earlier today by her office. “The panel should be equally divided between Democrats and Republicans as is done on the House Ethics Committee. It should require that witnesses are called and interviewed, subpoenas are issued, and information is shared on a bipartisan basis. Only then could it be fair.”
Pelosi, a veteran politician, knows a scandal when she sees it, and according to one congressional aide, changed her mind about the gravity of the Benghazi scandal and now believes Democrats should give the impression they are cooperating in an effort to get to the truth. But not all Democrats are falling in line with the minority leader this time around, despite her reputation for twisting arms and getting her members to walk lock-step. Quite the contrary, actually. Some members are being outright vocal about their willingness to circle the wagons around President Obama.
Still, some Democrats agree with Pelosi’s call for an equal number of party members on the committee, and the usual race-baiting emerged, insinuating that Republicans are driven by racism in their outrage over an administration that has been less-than truthful over Benghazi.
Congressman Jim Clyburn, an African American South Carolinian who serves as the assistant Democratic leader, said he is “dead set against” the committee unless Republicans agree to even split between. Clyburn, in a typical statement, said he is “”not bringing the noose to my hanging.” Then, it appears Clyburn will get to take his ball and go home, because Gowdy isn’t having it.
“In the words of the president,” he said before answering with a flat-out “no.” The Chairman said that the rules in select committees are that way for a reason. He also responded to the reported death threats, which we have confirmed are in fact being taken very seriously. When asked about the death threats, Gowdy was quick to bring up his time as a prosecutor and assured us that it wasn’t his first time receiving them, nor will it be the last.
And considering the lengths Democrats have proven themselves willing to go to cover for President Obama, who could blame him.
Worth noting, as Republicans have already, then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi established a select committee on global warming, which had nine Democrats and six Republicans.
