A rising star on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee called Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) allegation that the contempt proceedings against Attorney General Eric Holder are a voter-suppression tactic “mind-numbingly stupid.”
Freshman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) has gotten Twitter buzzing in the Fast and Furious hearings whenever he issues his forthright criticisms and questioning of the scandal.
“My friend Allen West said the race card was the last card in the deck. I think former speaker Pelosi has opened up a new deck and has found the 2 of clubs,” Gowdy said last night on Fox. “I could not believe it when I heard her saying that. Is that all you have to come back with? Is that the best you can come up with, is that we got together in this grand scheme to suppress votes? And I’m sure she didn’t say Southern states, but that’s what she meant.”
“It’s really beneath the office of a member of Congress to say something that outrageous, and the fact that she was once the speaker is mind-numbing! I honestly — and I’ve heard a lot in my 16 years as a prosecutor. I couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth,” he continued.
“But keep in mind, Greta, this is the same woman who said that she would have arrested Karl Rove any day she wanted. So I don’t know what was wrong with her yesterday or today or whenever she said that, but I would schedule an appointment with my doctor if she thinks that we are doing this to suppress votes this fall. That is mind-numbingly stupid.”
Gowdy said he saw “no explanation” for the 11th-hour executive privilege asserted over subpoenaed documents other than concealing something that would prove embarrassing for Holder or President Obama.
“If there was nothing in these documents, they would have given them to us. If executive privilege were so sacrosanct, they would have invoked it eight months ago. To wait 10 minutes before we start a markup? They still haven’t told us which documents are privileged,” he said.
“I don’t think the president had anything to do with Fast and Furious. I’m not sure Eric Holder had anything to do with it, which then leads to a conversation about whether he should have known about it,” Gowdy added. “But invoking executive privilege, not turning over documents — if there were nothing in this discovery or production that was damaging, why would they not give it to us?”
Join the conversation as a VIP Member