Morning Joe Presses Trey Gowdy to Concede Benghazi Investigation About ‘Politics’

The chairman of a future select committee that will investigate the 2012 attack in Benghazi and the government’s response to that attack, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), was grilled on Wednesday by the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. From NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd, to regular guest Mike Barnicle, to co-host Mika Brzezinski, the panelists all pressed Gowdy to address their concerns about the investigation being a political exercise.

Barnicle began by asking Gowdy to put aside his role as a congressman and to put his “prosecutor’s hat” on and cite what he believes the most pressing unanswered question about the Benghazi attack is. Gowdy cited the regular attacks that occurred in Benghazi before September 11, 2012, and say why those prior warnings were ignored.

Todd pressed Gowdy on why he would not consent to Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) request that both Republican and Democratic members be evenly represented on the committee. “Doesn’t it help the credibility of your investigation if it is truly an even split between the two parties?” Todd asked.

“Chuck, do you challenge the credibility of the Senate Judiciary Committee, because it’s certainly not evenly split?” Gowdy replied.

RELATED: Democrats Backing Off Threat to Boycott Benghazi Probe

“Well, this is different,” Todd replied. “This feels – this has a whiff of politics to it. To some people, more than a whiff.”

“A whiff?” Barnicle laughed.

“Don’t you agree that if you accept her terms, you actually get more credibility?” Todd asked.

“As the president loves to say elections have consequences,” Gowdy replied. He added that those who think the investigation is based in politics would not change their minds because of an even partisan split on the committee.

“There’s a lot of politics here,” Brzezinski pressed. “First of all, do you concede that there is more than a whiff of politics here?” She said that GOP members are fundraising off the Benghazi investigation.

Gowdy replied by saying that he would not use the investigation as a fundraising tool.

Watch the clip below, via MSNBC:

[Image via screengrab]

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