Trey Gowdy has played a lead role in some of the key investigations on Capitol Hill.
He chaired the Benghazi Select Committee which exposed Hillary Clinton’s illegal server, and he contributed mightily to the efforts to expose the FBI’s abuses in spying on Donald Trump.
But he shook Washington to its core with what he just announced.
Gowdy stunned political observers when he announced he was resigning from Congress.
He was not expected to face a competitive re-election campaign and he was the Chairman of the powerful Oversight Committee.
So his resignation took everyone in the Capitol by surprise.
Breitbart reports:
“Another member of Congress announced on Wednesday their decision not to seek re-election this fall.
South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy said he will leave the House and return to the justice system.
Gowdy made the announcement on Twitter, saying he was “grateful for the opportunity to serve.”
“I will not be filing for re-election to Congress nor seeking any other political or elected office,” Gowdy wrote. “Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system.”
“There is no perfect time to make this announcement, but with filing opening in six weeks, it is important to give the women and men in South Carolina who might be interested in serving ample time to reflect on the decision.”
Gowdy later tweeted out a more detailed explanation for why he was leaving Washington.
There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system. Full statement here → pic.twitter.com/7I8AApqvs1
— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) January 31, 2018
Rumors also circulated that the Trump administration wanted Gowdy to take a nomination to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
But he turned that down as well.
Do you think Gowdy is making a mistake by resigning?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.