CHUCK TODD (HOST): Let me ask you, we did a little calculation here on the number of words that you used during the hearing. You said the word Benghazi 17 times, Blumenthal 35 times, emails 76 times. You had made a promise that you were keeping the focus on Benghazi. Do you feel as if you did as much or -- even some Republicans were wondering why you were going down the Sidney Blumenthal, what some called a rabbit hole.
TREY GOWDY: Well I don't think it's a rabbit hole, Chuck, and I'll tell you why. I respect the fact that other people have different perspectives, but to me those are not Sidney Blumenthal's emails. They are Secretary Clinton's emails to or from Sidney Blumenthal, and every one of them relates to Libya and Benghazi. So I'm not reading Blumenthal emails about bridesmaids dresses or wedding plans or yoga. These are all about Libya and Benghazi. And to the extent that he was one of the more prolific emailers to her on the subject matter, how do you not ask, 'how does this person who has no formal role in government and no expertise in Libya or Benghazi, how does he have unfettered access to you, but the ambassador -- there is not a single email to or from him.' So I get that people want to refer to these as Sidney Blumenthal emails. They're Hillary Clinton emails that she received from him and, frankly, I think it would be a dereliction of duty if you didn't ask about them.
TODD: Well nobody is questioning whether to ask about them. I think it was the amount of time spent on it. It seemed like a larger portion of time was spent on that. For instance, I didn't hear as many questions that I expected to hear on the Libya policy in general, the vacuum that was left that ultimately created the security situation that we had in Benghazi that led to the death of four Americans.
