NH Now: Trey Gowdy Questions Rubio’s “Establishment” Label

https://soundcloud.com/wkxl/nh-now-trey-gowdy-2-1-16

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy has endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy has endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Congressman Trey Gowdy, who chairs the House Select Committee on Benghazi, was in NH campaigning for Marco Rubio. Gowdy declared that if Rubio is establishment, then the Conservatives have won. Gowdy also defended the work of his committee. Gowdy disputes the claim by many people Hillary Clinton’s testimony before the committee gave her campaign a needed boost. The congressman also criticized colleagues for talking about whether Hillary Clinton should be indicted for her use of a personal email and improper handling of classified material while she was Secretary of State.

Trey Gowdy was very animated about presenting Marco Rubio’s conservative credentials. He listed three other staunch conservatives who have endorsed the Florida senator–Representatives Jason Chaffetz and Mia Love from Utah and Darrell Issa from California. Gowdy claims that he is stunned that people insist on labeling Marco Rubio as being part of the establishment or as a moderate. As evidence, he points to Rubio’s has high rating by the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation. In addition, Rubio is rated as 100% pro-life and 100% for the second amendment. In addition, Marco Rubio has supported another conservative movement–an Article V constitutional Convention. Trey Gowdy thinks that Rubio has an aspirational and hopeful message which is construed by some as being establishment in tone. Gowdy believes that Marco Rubio is the Republican candidate who is most feared by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. He sees that Rubio would exploit the generation gap. Due to Rubio’s personal background, Gowdy feels that the Democrats would not be able to use the class warfare game.

Congressman Gowdy defended the role of his House Committee in the Clinton campaign. He feels that inappropriate comments by some House members and the desire of the media to protect Hillary Clinton affected the public perception of her testimony. Congressman Gowdy feels that their investigation exposed Secretary Clinton’s misuse of her personal email server. In addition, he believes that people will have a better understanding of the work of the House Select Committee on Benghazi’s work when its final report is issued in late March or early April. He claims that it is not all about Hillary Clinton. The report will be about the events before, during, and after the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Gowdy refused to comment on whether Secretary Clinton should be indicted. He stated that Clinton’s misuse of emails and handling of classified materials was not part of his committee’s investigation. Gowdy has confidence that the FBI will do its due diligence. Congressman Gowdy has been critical of colleagues who have called for Hillary Clinton’s indictment. One reason is that he feels that people should not comment if they do not have all of the facts or evidence. Also, Trey Gowdy, who is a former federal prosecutor, believes that the justice system should not be politicized.