The Republicans of the House Benghazi Committee continue to slow-walk their “investigation” so that its final report is released at a time guaranteed to have maximum election impact. But the committee’s Democrats have released their own report. Thing is, since there have been so many prior Benghazi investigations, the main body of new information details how determined Republicans are to use Benghazi to attack Hillary Clinton.
We knew that the military would not have been able to get troops to Benghazi in time to save the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens and the other Americans killed in the attack. We knew that the intelligence on what had prompted the attack shifted as new information came in. But if the Republicans on the committee couldn’t find a new bombshell in the interviews and investigations—and they tried, and tried—they were okay with trying to manufacture something. In the end, two years and $7 million later, the real story of the select committee is this:
Republicans excluded Democrats from interviews, concealed exculpatory evidence, withheld interview transcripts, leaked inaccurate information, issued unilateral subpoenas, sent armed Marshals to the home of a cooperative witness, and even conducted political fundraising by exploiting the deaths of four Americans.
In one of the most serious abuses, Chairman Gowdy personally and publicly accused Secretary Clinton of compromising a highly classified intelligence source. Although the Intelligence Community quickly debunked his claim, Chairman Gowdy has yet to apologize to Secretary Clinton for his slanderous accusation.
In our opinion, Chairman Gowdy has been conducting this investigation like an overzealous prosecutor desperately trying to land a front-page conviction rather than a neutral judge of facts seeking to improve the security of our diplomatic corps.
The Democrats’ report recommends improvements in security procedures for diplomatic facilities, improvements that would be made possible by Congress passing adequate funding. No doubt we can look forward to the Republicans releasing a report attacking Hillary Clinton. Again.