Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) is getting a reputation for intense, rapid-fire cross examinations of witnesses called to testify about the IRS scandal.
The former prosecutor again put his rhetorical skills on display during a hearing Wednesday, when he grilled University of Baltimore law professor Charles Tiefer about the need to appoint special counsel to investigate the IRS scandal.
Democrats invited Tiefer as an expert witness due to his previous service as solicitor and deputy general counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gowdy started his line of questioning with a hypothetical.
“Would you seat a juror, in a trial, who referred to your client as an obscene body part?” Gowdy asked, alluding to a recently released email exchange in which former IRS official Lois Learner used the term “assholes” to describe Republicans.
“I really have trouble to giving you an answer except that—“ Tiefer began, but was unable to finish his answer before Gowdy cut him off.
“Well, then you would starve to death as a lawyer if you can’t answer that question, professor,” Gowdy said. “You would seriously consider seating a juror in a trial, a criminal trial, where your client was accused of a crime, if that juror had referred to your client as an obscene body part, you would struggle with whether or not to strike that juror?”
When the professor acknowledged that “that didn’t sound too good,” Gowdy offered him some unsolicited advice.
“I’ll give you some free litigation advice: You’re going to want to use one of your strikes on that juror,” he said.
Gowdy then proceeded to explain why a conflict of interest in the Department of Justice necessitated a special counsel.
For the past several weeks he has served as the chair of a committee investigating the alleged targeting of Tea Party groups for unnecessary IRS audits. Since that time he has made congressional hearings must-watch television, ripping into the likes of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and White House officials.
To watch the full examination, click below:
