Trey Gowdy certainly has no reputation as a “maverick.” For years he’s led the charge in conducting endless investigations of Hillary Clinton and generally holding a hard Republican line. But earlier this year, Gowdy determined that he would not be running for Congress again in the fall. And, as Politico reports, that decision has been somewhat freeing.

Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina said that the evidence gathered by the committee clearly showed Russia's disdain for Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, and was "motivated in whole or in part by a desire to harm her candidacy or undermine her Presidency had she prevailed." A source familiar with Gowdy's thinking said the congressman believes there's no difference between opposing Clinton and backing Trump in what had become, effectively, a two-person race. The source added that Gowdy "disagrees with the conclusion" that the intelligence agencies got it wrong.

This puts Gowdy squarely at odds with the one page “summary” of findings offered by the Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee less than half an hour after they announced the closure of the Russia investigation without consulting Democrats on the committee. That summary includes a statement in which the Republicans make an extra-special carve-out from the findings of the intelligence community concerning Russian actions in the 2016 election.

Concurrence with the Intelligence Community Assessment’s judgments, except with respect to Putin’s supposed preference for candidate Trump.

But Gowdy, who doesn’t have to face Trump or Trump voters in the fall, has been willing to admit at least that much of the truth: Russia’s goal was to help Donald Trump.