Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news presenter, former politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for South Carolina's 4th congressional district from 2011 to 2019.

From 2014 to 2016, Gowdy chaired the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi which was partly responsible for discovering the existence of Hillary Clinton's private email server.

[6][1] He has since rejoined the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough,[7] and also joined Fox News as a contributor.

[14] Gowdy graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1982 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Baylor University in 1986.

He then went into private practice at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough[7] in Greenville, South Carolina, before being appointed as an assistant United States Attorney in April 1994.

Despite getting a 93% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union,[18] Inglis had angered the conservative wing of the Republican Party by taking stances that were perceived to be more moderate than those he had taken when he first represented the district from 1993 to 1999; besides opposing elements in his own party on issues including climate change, he attracted attention as a member of the Judiciary Committee for providing the deciding vote that prevented a measure designed to protect the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance from coming to the House floor.

In the June 2010 primary, Gowdy ranked first with 39% of the vote, short of the 50% majority threshold to win outright and avoid a run-off.

[22] The 4th district was considered so heavily Republican that it was widely presumed Gowdy had clinched a seat in Congress with his primary victory.

[29] According to Politico during his tenure in Congress, Gowdy was "considered one of the GOP's most versatile and skilled legal experts, owing to his background as a federal prosecutor".

[30] However, in a June 2018 hearing, Gowdy urged Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to wrap up the special counsel investigation.

[33] He also opposed the 2011 defense authorization bill, citing concerns about the prospect of Americans being detained without trial on national security grounds.

[34] In December 2010, he told Congressional Quarterly that he would support a measure only if its sponsor could demonstrate that the Constitution gave the government the power to act in a particular realm.

Gowdy frequently spoke on the floor of the House on issues ranging from Operation Fast and Furious to his support for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

He not only believes "in the sanctity of life", but argued that "the strategy should be broader than waiting for the Supreme Court to revisit Roe v.

"[38] Gowdy signed the Contract from America, which aims to defund, repeal, and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, limit United States Environmental Protection Agency regulations, enact a reform of the federal tax code, pass a balanced budget amendment, and end earmarks.

[42] Strzok said that a "We'll stop Trump" text message was written late at night and off-the-cuff shortly after controversial remarks were made by Trump towards the family of an American war veteran, and that the message reflected Strzok's belief that Americans would not vote for a candidate who engaged in such "horrible, disgusting behavior".

[42] Strzok said the message "was in no way—unequivocally—any suggestion that me, the FBI, would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate.

[49] In late December 2015, Gowdy endorsed Senator Marco Rubio for president, praising him as a rarity among elected officials for having kept his campaign promises.

Two months later, on May 20, Gowdy endorsed Trump for president, admitting that while he was a "Rubio guy" he would support the presumptive Republican nominee.

The aide had alleged he was fired in part because he was not willing to focus his investigative work on Hillary Clinton (a charge which was later dropped) and because he was absent from the position while fulfilling an Air Force Reserve assignment.