A Republican congressman said Wednesday that Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who has led the House investigation of the Benghazi attacks, intends to step down at the end of next year. But Gowdy’s office said he’s made no announcement about his plans.
Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) said on C-SPAN that Gowdy will return to his home state after the current term.
“Trey wants to go back to South Carolina, and God bless him for that,” Fleming said, adding that Gowdy had told other Republicans of his plans.
“At the end of his term, yes,” Fleming said. “He plans to go back home, and he wants to finish his work on the Benghazi special committee. But he loves South Carolina and he loves his family, and he wants to go back and spend the rest of his life there.”
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But Amanda Duvall, a spokeswoman for Gowdy, pushed back on Fleming’s claim.
“No, he has not made any announcement on 2016,” Duvall told the Independent Journal Review. Duvall did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MSNBC.
And Matt Moore, the chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, tweeted: Folks, Rep. Trey Gowdy @TGowdySC has NOT announced his retirement. Just confirmed with his office. Gowdy, a former prosecutor, had recently been mentioned as a potential candidate for House majority leader, the job vacated by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who is set to replace the retiring Rep. John Boehner as speaker next month. But Gowdy said Monday he wouldn’t run for the post, and preferred to continue his work on the Benghazi committee. That work has often drawn scorn from Democrats, who have accused Gowdy of selectively leaking pieces of information to the media with the goal of damaging Hillary Clinton.
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