Just Announced: Trey Gowdy Joins Trump’s Legal Team

Axios gave a summary of the situation Gowdy is stepping into to defend President Trump:

President Trump has asked former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy to assist him with legal advice from outside the White House and Gowdy has agreed, though details are yet to be finalized, according to people familiar with the situation.

Where it stands: As the president faces an impeachment inquiry, Gowdy can offer Trump another opinion on where legal theory meets political reality, a person familiar told Axios' Margaret Talev, adding that his Benghazi experience is seen as an asset. Gowdy is expected to advise the White House behind the scenes and appear on TV to advocate on behalf of the president.

The state of play: Now that Trump faces an official impeachment inquiry, the White House has formalized its strategy to ignore lawmakers' demands until Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.

Bloomberg has more to say:

Donald Trump has enlisted former Representative Trey Gowdy to work with the White House team combating the U.S. House’s impeachment inquiry into the president, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Gowdy, a former prosecutor from South Carolina, is not formally joining the White House staff, according to the people. He was at the White House on Tuesday, according to one person who saw him there, before an eight-page letter was issued to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declaring that Trump and the administration wouldn’t participate in the impeachment inquiry.

Gowdy rose to prominence leading a special House panel investigating the attacks on an American diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, while Hillary Clinton was secretary of State. The committee’s more than two-year-long investigation concluded in June 2016, in the thick of the presidential campaign, without substantiating any criminal behavior or misconduct by Obama administration officials. The probe was derided by Democrats as a political stunt intended to damage Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The Daily Caller added:

The White House is seeking attorneys for impeachment counsel, and one report says they have reached out to a familiar name.

 

The Trump administration has sought counsel from former Republican South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, according to a report published Tuesday from CNN.

 

A former federal prosecutor, Gowdy remains a popular figure in Republican circles for his work as chairman of the House Oversight Committee and the House Benghazi Committee, where he grilled Hillary Clinton on her handling of the Benghazi terrorist attacks, that resulted in the death of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.