Benghazi, House Select Committee
Benghazi—House Select Committee
Introduction
March 14, 2016
The Benghazi House Select Committee promises its final report before summer 2016.
Democrats have said the Benghazi inquiry has gone on longer than the 9/11 Commission took to investigate the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001 at a cost of more than $6 million. Democrats say the only goal of the investigation is to undermine Secretary Clinton’s candidacy for president.
Committee Member Schiff (D-CA) dismissed Gowdy’s claim that new witnesses and documents have led to progress in the investigation. “I don’t think there are new meaningful facts to uncover at this point,” after seven previous congressional investigations and an independent panel (ARB) led by former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering and retired Adm. Mike Mullen, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Schiff said.
Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the Benghazi committee’s senior Democrat, said the 22-month-old panel is “nothing more than a taxpayer-funded effort to bring harm to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”
Republicans say the committee has been hindered by stonewalling by the State Department and other executive branch agencies. And they say Schiff and other Democrats have done more carping about the committee than constructive work on its behalf.
Still, Republican insistence that the investigation is not politically motivated was undermined last year when House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested that the Benghazi panel could take credit for Clinton’s slumping poll numbers.
Rep. Susan Brooks, R-Ind., a member of the Benghazi committee, said Clinton’s testimony was the most visible, but not necessarily the most important, aspect of the panel’s work.
“We want to prevent this from happening again, which is what the families of the victims want,” Brooks said, according to the newspaper
House Select Committee—Interim Report
On May 8, 2014, the House of Representatives adopted H. Res. 567, Providing for the Establishment of the Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi, Libya.
The Select Committee is authorized and directed to conduct a full and complete investigation and study and issue a final report of its findings to the House regarding–
- All policies, decisions, and activities that contributed to the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, as well as those that affected the ability of the United States to prepare for the attacks;
- All policies, decisions, and activities to respond to and repel the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, including efforts to rescue United States personnel;
- Internal and public executive branch communications about the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
- Accountability for policies and decisions related to the security of facilities in Benghazi, Libya, and the response to the attacks, including individuals and entities responsible for those policies and decisions;
- Executive branch authorities’ efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
- Executive branch activities and efforts to comply with Congressional inquiries into the attacks on United States facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012;
- Recommendations for improving executive branch cooperation and compliance with congressional oversight and investigations;
- Information related to lessons learned from the attacks and executive branch activities and efforts to protect United States facilities and personnel abroad; and
- Any other relevant issues relating to the attacks, the response to the attacks, or the investigation by the House of Representatives into the attacks.
Republicans
Trey Gowdy,
Chairman (SC-04)
Susan Brooks (IN-05)
Jim Jordan (OH-04)
Mike Pompeo (KS-04)
Martha Roby (AL-02)
Peter Roskam (IL-06)
Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03)
Democrats
Elijah Cummings,
Ranking Member (MD-07)
Adam Smith (WA-09)
Adam Schiff (CA-28)
Linda Sanchez (CA-38)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)
Interim Progress Update The Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi Chairman Trey Gowdy May 8, 2015
According to the Chairman, Trey Gowdy, “The committee is conducting a thorough, fact-centered investigation, not trying to prove predetermined political conclusions, so it must pursue every lead possible as part of its obligation to determine what can and cannot be substantiated.
The Committee’s investigation is focused on uncovering answers to a number of issues. Among them, three broad questions are prominent: (1) why did the U.S. have a presence in Benghazi, Libya despite the security risks; (2) what actions did relevant agencies take during the attacks to protect U.S. personnel and facilities; and (3) what was the Administration’s response and explanation for the attacks and how did its position evolve? Each of these areas is targeted toward forming a better understanding of the events that transpired before, during and after the terrorist attacks
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, intelligence about who carried it out and why was contradictory, the report found. That led Susan Rice, then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to inaccurately assert that the attack had evolved from a protest, when in fact there had been no demonstration.
But it was intelligence analysts, not political appointees, who made the wrong call, the committee found. The report did not conclude that Rice or any other government official acted in bad faith or intentionally misled the American people.
Interim Report:
The Committee’s second task was to review documents and materials transmitted from other House Committees. The Committee manually reviewed and evaluated on a page-by-page basis reports, transcripts of depositions and hearings, memoranda, classified and unclassified documents, and other information not cited or used by the standing committees in their investigations
That is why in an April 23, 2015 letter to the former Secretary’s attorney, the Committee reiterated its request for her to turn over the server to a neutral, third party, such as an inspector general. The Committee will call Secretary Clinton to testify once it is satisfied that all the relevant information has been provided by both the State Department and her staff.
Despite these obstacles, the Committee continues to move forward in its investigation – interviewing survivors of the terrorist attacks and others who are giving indispensable firsthand accounts of what happened before, during and after the attacks. This undertaking has resulted in hundreds of hours of preparation, nearly 100 hours of actual interview time and 2,500 pages of testimony. In the coming months, an additional 60 witnesses representing current and former officials and employees from the State Department, the White House and the Intelligence Community will be interviewed.
Over the past year, the Committee has proceeded in a deliberate and measured manner – assessing available information, asking targeted questions and seeking specific responses from the agencies and the White House. The tens-of-thousands of pages of new documents produced as a result of the requests for documents and subpoenas, and the information gleaned from the interviews, have all been integrated into the Committee’s investigation and further informed its next steps. The Committee has encountered obstacles that have had a significant effect on the pace of the investigation. Despite these obstacles, the Committee will continue its work in a deliberate manner to obtain a definitive answer to the questions that have been outstanding for almost three years regarding the events that occurred before, during and after the terrorist attacks. Only then will the Committee be able to issue its investigative report. The Committee takes its mandate seriously. The Benghazi attacks left a permanent mark on U.S. diplomacy abroad. Despite previous investigations, many questions remain unanswered. The Committee owes a duty to the four Americans who lost their lives to ensure a thorough investigation is conducted so that Benghazi never happens again.
“We conducted detailed interviews with senior intelligence officials from Benghazi and Tripoli as well as eight security personnel on the ground in Benghazi that night. Based on the testimony and the documents we reviewed, we concluded that all the CIA officers in Benghazi were heroes. Their actions saved lives,” they said.
Rice’s comments were based on faulty intelligence from multiple agencies, according to the report.
In the years since, some participants in the attack have said they were motivated by the video. The attackers were a mix of extremists and hangers on, the investigation found.
Summary of Hillary’s Testimony
Based on Star Ledger (New Jersey) Editorial
An 11-hour interrogation by a special committee completely failed to pin the blame for the 2012 Benghazi attacks on Hillary Clinton, or even to turn up any new information.
A House Intelligence committee already debunked the Republican conspiracy theories — that the White House was trying to cover up a terrorist attack, that a military rescue was blocked or that the CIA was using Benghazi for running guns to Syria.
“Several Republicans publicly admitted that this new committee is a political stunt, intended to hurt Clinton’s campaign. And it has now failed even in that goal, as Hillary is roundly being declared the “winner” of the hearing, and the only grown-up in the room.”
Republicans had promised to reveal new information, but they presented us with none. They did not show any evidence of nefariousness or negligence by Clinton. They did not show that she caused the miscommunication over Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ security requests, that he or others could have been saved, or that Clinton somehow impeded that effort. They did not show that she tried to mislead the public in any way.
“Their attempt to score political points off the deaths of U.S. personnel on foreign soil is disgraceful. This did not happen when Marines were killed in Beirut under Ronald Reagan, or when the African embassies were attacked under Bill Clinton, or when the rescue of Iran hostages failed under Jimmy Carter. It’s legitimate to investigate these incidents, of course. But the inquiry has to be aimed at ensuring the safety of Americans. Using the deaths to play politics dishonors those who died.”
“Please. As he left the hearing last night, the committee’s chairman, Trey Gowdy, admitted himself that in 11 hours, it had revealed nothing new. “I don’t know that she testified that much differently today than she has the previous time she testified,” he said.
“So Clinton has emerged from this politically unscathed, and it’s Republicans who are on the hot seat now. This is the eighth investigation into Benghazi, and after 17 months it is no longer a credible probe that focuses on victims and remedies. If this committee can’t justify its own existence, it’s time to shut it down”
Secretary Clinton has written a book, Hard Choices, on decision making during her time as Secretary of State. It includes discussion about the Benghazi attacks.
Benghazi House Select Committee Final Report
Mary Troyan, USA Today May 21, 2016
“The special House committee investigating the 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi will issue its report before the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions in July, the panel’s chairman told MSNBC on Friday.”
“Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said he originally wanted to finish in 2015 but that the committee did not receive all of the documents and witnesses in time.”
“And I’ll just let the reader know what it is we’re missing and the agencies that haven’t produced it to us,” Gowdy said. “And if witnesses come forward after the publication of our report, we’ll let the readers know that. I absolutely wanted it done in ‘15 but I don’t control access to documents or witnesses.”
Democrats have argued that the committee is a partisan effort to damage former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and is unnecessary in light of multiple other investigations, including one critical of the State Department and the inadequate security at the Benghazi compound.
Gowdy said the panel’s report will include new information about the security situation, the U.S. response to the attacks and how the Obama administration described what happened afterward.
Gowdy said the report will also include interview transcripts and exhibits, and leave it to readers to reach their own conclusions.
The Republican National Convention is July 18-21 in Cleveland, Ohio and the Democratic National Convention is July 25-28 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Britain Street Blog Conclusions
The House Select Committee on Benghazi has been going on longer than the Kennedy Assassination investigation, the 9-11 Investigation, and the Watergate Investigation. It is a strictly partisan affair with 7 Republicans and 5 Democrats on the Committee led by Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.
The committee has been hindered by stonewalling by the State Department and other executive branch agencies. And they say Schiff and other Democrats have done more carping about the committee than constructive work on its behalf.
Still, Republicans insist that the investigation is not politically motivated. Opinions were undermined last year when House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested that the Benghazi panel could take credit for Clinton’s slumping poll numbers.
Chairman Gowdy has promised the final report will be out before the party conventions in July 2016. Democrats claim that is just more evidence that this committee has politics on its mind more than Benghazi. Not so, say the Republicans.
“We want to prevent this from happening again, which is what the families of the victims want,” Republican Brooks said, according to the newspaper.
In the Interim Report, the House Committee addressed the issue of Secretary Clinton’s use of a private server during her term as Secretary of State. That is why in an April 23, 2015 letter to the former Secretary’s attorney, the Committee reiterated its request for her to turn over the server to a neutral, third party, such as an inspector general. The FBI is now (2016) investigating the use of the private server and some Republicans are calling for her to be tried for treason.
The Talking Points continue to be another controversy under consideration by the House Committee. I agree with Secretary Clinton, “what difference does it make?” And with that statement I mean no disrespect to the Americans who lost their lives at Benghazi.
I am now working on an eBook about these Benghazi issues which I will publish on Smashwords.com within the next month, and yes, prior to the party nominating conventions.
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