House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said Thursday it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which lawmakers would investigate who wrote an opinion piece after the New York Times’ published of an incendiary op-ed by an anonymous Trump administration official.
“I like to pride myself on having a big imagination but I can’t possibly construct a fact pattern under which a congressional committee would look at the source of an op-ed,” the South Carolina Republican told reporters in a comment confirmed by the Washington Examiner.
[Also read: Melania Trump says anonymous NYT op-ed writer ‘sabotaging’ the country]
Will @GOPoversight look at who wrote the oped?
“I like to pride myself on having a big imagination but I can’t possibly construct a fact pattern under which a congressional committee would look at the source of an oped,” says @TGowdySC.— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) September 6, 2018
Gowdy reiterated to the Washington Post that it wouldn’t be the responsibility of the House Oversight Committee to probe the underlying content of the piece which questions President Trump’s fitness for office.
What about the underlying content of the oped, whether Trump is for office and in charge?
“Wouldn’t be the Oversight Committee,” @TGowdySC says.— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) September 6, 2018
In the op-ed published Wednesday afternoon, the unnamed Trump aide detailed how they and other staffers work “diligently” to “frustrate” parts of the president’s agenda and “his worst inclinations,” because they believe their first duty is to the country rather than the White House.
“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” the mystery author wrote. “We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
Gowdy chairs the House Oversight Committee, which holds hearings into government accountability, but plans to retire after the 2018 midterm election.
His comments follow House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., who said Thursday his team was “evaluating options on how to get to the truth of what happened.”
“We’ve had congressional Democrats reach out to our office about this issue as well — and while we may disagree politically, what many of us do agree on is that efforts within the White House to anonymously sabotage a duly elected president is an act of cowardice and does not serve American taxpayers well,” Meadows told Politico.
While leading a powerful caucus of House Republicans, Meadows doesn’t chair a committee that can launch its own inquiries.
Conservative political pundits, such as Fox News’ Sean Hannity, cited the piece Wednesday evening as evidence of a “deep state,” a popular right-wing conspiracy that alleges there is a shadow government of unelected bureaucrats seeking to undermine Trump.
