Well, as investment brokers are apt to say, "past performance is no guarantee of future results."
Mr. Gowdy is just another player in the kabuki theater we call congress. He has neither power nor authority. All he has is a chair and a microphone.
Sessions, on the other hand, has the power and authority to put an end to this bullshittery; yet the first thing he does is take himself out of the game. Then he disappears.
But before that, Sessions (like Gowdy) had a great record of upholding the law.
How do we know that Gowdy would behave at all differently if he was to be the replacement for Sessions? After all, given the inaction and hand-wringing of our congressmen after the historic sweeping victory we gave them in 2016, it's pretty clear that one DC creep is pretty much the same as the next.
My faith in congress to do the right thing is less than zero. My belief that they are far more likely (and with great joy as their bank accounts fill) to do harm than good to us citizens is 100%. As a body, congress is a den of worthless liars and pearl-clutching cowards.
Also strange, since they knew Sessions had a meeting with this Ambassador, that the content of that discussion didn't come out earlier. Perhaps they needed time to prime the Ambassador for the conversation with the Russian official?