South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy and Texas Senator John Cornyn are on a list to succeed James Comey as FBI director after Donald Trump fired him earlier this week.
The fiery South Carolinian who made his name grilling Hillary Clinton over the Benghazi embassy attack and the Texan who serves as the number two Republican in the Senate are among the candidates under consideration to lead the FBI after James Comey’s high-profile firing earlier this week.
A senior administration official with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly as a matter of practice confirmed to McClatchy that South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy and Texas Sen. John Cornyn are two of 11 candidates on a White House list who could lead the FBI.
Gowdy and Cornyn have law enforcement credentials.
Cornyn served as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court and worked as Texas Attorney General from 1999 to 2002 before winning election to the U. S. Senate. Gowdy worked as a federal prosecutor from 1994 to 2000 in South Carolina and served as a district attorney before entering Congress in 2011.
Whoever is selected to the position will face intense political scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans and will be responsible for overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, along with the typical responsibilities of managing an agency of over 35,000 employees.
Neither Gowdy nor Cornyn has indicated a formal interest in the position.
On Capitol Hill this week, Cornyn told reporters he’s not interested in the position and said in a statement on Friday, “I have the distinct privilege of serving 28 million Texans in the United States Senate, and that is where my focus remains.”
Gowdy’s office declined to comment.
Cornyn, 65, would likely have the support of his Republican colleagues if nominated by President Donald Trump. He is the second ranking member of the Senate after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Gowdy, 52, is despised by Democrats and loved by Republicans after leading the House Select Committee on Benghazi from 2014 to 2016. The investigation led to the discovery of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer declined to say how fast Trump would pick a FBI director.
“The president obviously wants to make sure that we’ ve got the right person, ” Spicer said. “And that process is being headed by the Department of Justice.
Spicer said the interview process will start immediately but Trump has not decided if Comey’s potential replacement should be political or not.
“The Department of Justice is screening candidates, and I’ m sure that as they feel as though they’ ve got a list of finalists, they’ ll share that with the President and he’ ll make a decision, ” Spicer said.
Gowdy and Cornyn are the most well-known of the 11 candidates the White House is considering.
The list also includes former House Intelligence Committee chairman and former FBI agent Mike Rogers, former New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly, former assistant attorney general Alice Fisher, FBI executive assistant director Paul Abbate, associate judge of New York Court of Appeals Mike Garcia, mayor of Colorado Springs John Suthers, Boeing executive vice president and former federal appellate court judge Michael Luttig, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson and acting FBI director Andrew McCabe.
Fox News first reported the list of potential replacements on Friday.
Donovan Harrell contributed to this report.
