
Rep. Trey Gowdy has been in Donald Trump's corner for months. But the ever-increasing scandal involving the administration and Russia has pushed even Gowdy to public, exasperated criticism.

When Rep. Trey Gowdy has concerns about your credibility, you know things are getting bad.

The South Carolina Republican is infamous for his fevered pursuit of Hillary Clinton over the Benghazi attack, a starkly partisan effort that relied on misinformation and conservative spin. And he called for Clinton to be prosecuted over her use of a private email server, even after former FBI Director James Comey stated there wasn't sufficient evidence to do so.

Moreover, while Gowdy was originally a supporter of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during the 2016 Republican primaries — something for which Trump lashed out at him on Twitter — he did eventually endorse Trump, and has remained his steadfast defender and shield in the House of Representatives.


But the seemingly endless spread of the scandal surrounding this White House and Russia has pushed even Gowdy to exhibit public disapproval and exasperation with the administration.

In the wake of bombshell reporting that Donald Trump Jr. arranged a meeting with a Kremlin-backed lawyer, in order to obtain potentially damaging information about Clinton, Gowdy told the Trump-friendly Fox News that the slow but steady revelation of bits and pieces of the story "is undermining the credibility of this administration."

And he noted that the claims made by Trump Jr. that the communications were intended to focus on Russian adoption policies are meaningless.

"The purported reason was for an agent of a foreign power to try to influence our election," he said.

Gowdy evinced frustration about "the amnesia of people that are in the Trump orbit," declaring of the Trump team, "If you had a contact with Russia, tell the special counsel about it! Don’t wait until The New York Times figures it out!”

The Trump administration is making it increasingly difficult for even its staunchest allies to keep up appearances. As the turmoil continues to deepen, Trump and his team may find they have very few friends remaining in the halls of government — at least, not in the United States government.