Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, slammed a former committee staffer who has publicly accused the panel of diverting its investigative focus to Hillary Clinton.
“One month ago, this staffer had a chance to bare his soul, and raise his claim this committee was focused on Secretary Clinton in a legal document, not an interview, and he did not do it,” the South Carolina Republican said in a statement Sunday. “Nor did he mention Secretary Clinton at any time during his counseling for deficient performance, when he was terminated, or via his first lawyer who withdrew from representing him.”
The staffer, Bradley Podliska, said in an interview with the New York Times and again Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that he was fired from the committee after resisting internal attempts to target Clinton rather than investigate the 2012 Benghazi terror attack.
Podliska said the panel took a partisan turn in March, shortly after the discovery of Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email server to shield her official communications.
Podliska, a major in the Air Force Reserves, also claimed he was removed because he took time off to go on active duty. He told the Times he plans to bring a lawsuit against the committee under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.
Gowdy said Podliska and the committee have been engaged in mediation, set to conclude this week, and noted the former staffer has not once mentioned Clinton throughout the process.
“But as this process prepares to wrap, he has demanded money from the committee, the committee has refused to pay him, and he has now run to the press with his new salacious allegations about Secretary Clinton,” Gowdy added.
The committee has been battling criticism that its investigation has become politically motivated since Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested in an interview late last month that the committee actively worked to bring down Clinton’s poll numbers.
Gowdy noted Podliska was unduly focused on Clinton and was actually asked to stop by committee staff before his removal.
“The record makes it clear not only did he mishandle classified information, he himself was focused on Clinton improperly and was instructed to stop, and that issues with his conduct were noted on the record as far back as April,” the chairman said.
“Because I do not know him, and cannot recall ever speaking to him, I can say for certain he was never instructed by me to focus on Clinton, nor would he be a credible person to speak on my behalf,” he added.
Podliska told CNN he was told by committee staff that he was fired for sending a social invitation over work email, giving an intern an unauthorized project and mishandling classified information, accusations Podliska denies.
