Rep. Trey Gowdy, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman, said Sunday a second special counsel to look into the Department of Justice and FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation and possible collusion between President Trump and Russia during the 2016 presidential election may be necessary.
“Over the weekend, I’d counted up almost two dozen witnesses that the inspector general would not have access to, were he alone conducting this investigation, so I think we’re trending perhaps towards another special counsel because of this unique fact pattern and the fact that there are witnesses outside the reach of the inspector general,” Gowdy told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Bartiromo then asked the South Carolina Republican to confirm whether he believes a second special counsel is necessary.
“How does one investigate itself frankly?” she asked.
“Well you don’t. I wish that I had been able to grade my own papers in college and law school, but I was not able to. I would have done better first of all, but–we don’t put family members on the jury. We don’t put friends on the jury,” Gowdy replied.
“You need an independent arbiter, and the Department of Justice cannot investigate itself. Horowitz can– Horowitz is a fair guy, but when there are two dozen witnesses that have left the department or worked for another agency, someone else has to do it and I am reluctant to call for special counsel, but I think it may be unavoidable in this fact pattern.”
The comments come on the heels of reports that the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, will likely criticize former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe for reportedly approving an improper leak about the Clinton probe to The Wall Street Journal in 2016, in a highly-anticipated report that began more than a year ago and is expected to be released in the coming weeks. (Fox News)
“I want to know everything that happened in 2016 and whether Andy McCabe was leaking for or against Hillary Clinton,” Gowdy said, referencing the report. “I think it’s important for all of us to know.”