Trey Gowdy: Congress Was A Waste Of Time [VIDEO]

Axios reports:

South Carolina Republican Trey Gowdy, who is retiring from Congress this year, told Vice News’ Michael C. Moynihan that he felt being in Congress was largely a waste of time, as it was bogged down by “ineffectiveness.”

And asked what he makes of the Republican party in 2018, he said “the goal is to win” — that’s it. Why it matters: 37 House Republicans have said they’re not running for re-election this year, upping the odds Democrats retake the House.

“We’ve convinced ourselves that we have to because the country will go to Hades in a hand basket if my team doesn’t win,” Gowdy said. “To the extent men judge themselves based on what they do for a living, I don’t have a lot to show for the last seven years.”

The Washington Examiner reports:

Gowdy revealed that House leadership placed him in the House Intelligence Committee because it had a reputation of being nonpartisan. Gowdy noted how the rationale behind the assignment became ironic because the intelligence panel has since become one of the most divided committees over the course of its Russia investigation.

Gowdy explained how his prior assignments with the ethics and Benghazi panels contributed to a sense that he was a “hyperpartisan,” as Vice’s Michael Moynihan put it.

“Paul I think watched that and Paul knows me pretty well. And he says, ‘That’s not who the guy is. It’s not where he’s happiest. We’ll put you on House Intel,'” Gowdy said of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

Gowdy also tells Vice that he’ll never run for political office again. “I’m done,” he claims.