Rep. Trey Gowdy won't seek reelection, may return to justice system

Rep. Trey Gowdy announced Wednesday that he will not run for reelection.

"There is a time to come and a time to go. This is the right time, for me, to leave politics and return to the justice system," he said in the statement posted to Twitter.

Gowdy became a household name for chairing the House select committee on the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi.

His near laser-like focus on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won him accolades from hardline Republicans and scorn from democrats.

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Gowdy pressed for the prosecution of Clinton during the 2016 campaign, citing her use of a private email server while running the State Department.

Gowdy joins the ranks of eight fellow powerful GOP committee chairmen who have announced they will not run for reelection.

That represents a larger movement in Congress.

So far, more than 50 of the House’s 435 members have announced they are leaving Congress — 35 Republicans and 16 Democrats.

“Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress, and I enjoy our justice system more than our political system,” he said.

It’s unclear exactly what the 53-year-old has planned for the future.

The Hill noted that a vacancy on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over South Carolina, opened up just one day before Gowdy announced his retirement.

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