Harold Watson “Trey” Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news personality, former politician, and former federal prosecutor who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019.
His district encompassed much of South Carolina’s Upstate, including Greenville and Spartanburg.
Trey Gowdy Biography
Gowdy was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on August 22, 1964. Novalene (née Evans) and Harold Watson “Hal” Gowdy Jr., MD are his parents.
He grew up in Spartanburg, where he worked at the community market and delivered newspapers for the local daily.
Gowdy graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1982 and Baylor University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in history. He was a member of Kappa Omega Tau at Baylor. In 1989, he graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law with a Juris Doctorate.
Trey Gowdy Career: Fox News and Legal Works
Gowdy worked as a federal prosecutor in the District of South Carolina from 1994 to 2000, and then as the solicitor (district attorney) for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which includes Spartanburg and Cherokee counties, from 2000 to 2010. From 2014 to 2016, Gowdy oversaw the Benghazi Select Committee of the US House of Representatives, which was partially responsible for the discovery of Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
His investigation of the circumstances preceding the 2012 Benghazi incident lasted over two and a half years and cost $7.8 million, but found no evidence of specific wrongdoing by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Gowdy pushed for Hillary Clinton’s prosecution.
He chaired the House Oversight Committee from 2017 to 2018.
Trey Gowdy On Fox News
On January 31, 2018, Gowdy announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018 and that he intended to pursue a legal career instead of politics.
He has since joined the law firm, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, and also joined Fox News as a contributor, and was promoted in 2021 to host, first, Fox News Primetime, and then Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy.
Trey Gowdy Legal Career
Trey Gowdy worked as a judicial law clerk for federal judge G. Ross Anderson of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, as well as for John P. Gardner of the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
He subsequently moved into private practice in Greenville, South Carolina, with Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, until being appointed an Assistant United States Attorney in April 1994. For his successful prosecution of J. Mark Allen, one of “America’s Most Wanted” suspects, Gowdy received the Postal Inspector’s Award.
He resigned from the US Attorney’s Office in February 2000 to run for Solicitor of the Seventh Circuit.
In the Republican primary, he defeated incumbent Solicitor Holman Gossett. In the general election, he ran unchallenged.
Gowdy was re-elected without opposition in 2004 and 2008. He appeared on four episodes of Forensic Files, as well as Dateline NBC and SCETV, during his time there.
