Rep. Trey Gowdy Flips On Fundraising Off Benghazi, Will Media He Deceived Take Note?

UPDATE: Gowdy Cancels

UPDATE: Rep. Gowdy has reportedly canceled his appearance at the fundraiser. In a statement to Mediaite, Gowdy's spokesperson said, “The Chairman was unaware that organizers of this event intended to feature or even mention Benghazi.”

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) will be headlining a fundraising event for the Virginia Republican Party apparently centered on the topic of the Benghazi, which would contradict his repeated pledges not to raise money off of the 2012 attacks. Will the media outlets he deceived take note of his reversal?

The conservative National Review reports that Gowdy, the chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, is scheduled to headline an event called “Beyond Benghazi” or the Republican Party of Virginia. According to the report, the event will feature “a screening and an interview of Gowdy, moderated by Rep. Morgan Griffith.” The party is charging $75 for the event, and is also soliciting donations from $1,250 to $5000 in exchange for “special recognition” and other perks.

The appearance “could raise questions about the optics of fundraising off the attacks” given Gowdy's past statements, as Politico noted.

In appearances last May on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox, Gowdy - who had just been named chairman of the select committee at a time when Republicans were being criticized for using Benghazi investigations to raise money - said he would not be involved with fundraising rooted in the attacks.

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough asked Gowdy if, while the committee is investigating Benghazi if he would ask “your fellow members, while this investigation is going on, that they not use Benghazi for fundraising purposes” during an interview on the May 7, 2014 edition of Morning Joe. In response, Gowdy said, “Yes. And I will cite myself as an example. I have never sought to raise a single penny on the backs of four murdered Americans.”

Gowdy told CNN's Jake Tapper “I cannot and will not raise money on Benghazi” during an interview later the same day.

Gowdy told Chris Wallace, “I will not raise money on Benghazi just like I never raised money using crime victims when I was prosecutor and I've asked my colleagues to follow suit” on the May 11, 2014 edition of Fox News Sunday.

Gowdy's pledge was widely covered by other media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Reuters, Politico, The Hill, Huffington Post, National Journal, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Townhall.com, and Newsmax.

Even before his statements, Gowdy had already invoked Benghazi in at least two campaign appearances for Republican members of Congress.

As Media Matters has previously documented, conservative media outlets and Fox personalities have joined the Republican Party and its House and Senate campaign arms in fundraising off the Benghazi attacks.