Rep. Gowdy named to lead Benghazi select committee

South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor known for his aggressive style of questioning at congressional hearings, has been tapped to lead a select committee tasked with investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks.

House Speaker John Boehner made the announcement Monday afternoon.

“With four of our countrymen killed at the hands of terrorists, the American people want answers, accountability, and justice,” he said. “Trey Gowdy is as dogged, focused, and serious-minded as they come.”

Boehner said Gowdy’s courtroom background makes him the “ideal person” to lead the newly announced investigation.

Gowdy said in a statement he was “honored” to serve as chairman. “While people are free to draw different conclusions from the facts, there should be no debate over whether the American public is entitled to have all of the facts,” he said.

The Gowdy selection was read by some as a blow to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and his probe into the 2012 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans including Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. In fact, some sources on Capitol Hill argue that one of the reasons a select committee has been commissioned is to specifically sideline Issa. Issa’s staff and the staff of the House Armed Services Committee got into a public dispute last week about the credibility of a Benghazi witness at an oversight committee hearing.

More From FoxNews: