Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is defending the House Select Committee on Benghazi amid accusations it is simply a political ploy to hurt Hillary Clinton.
“Well, I think that every major investigation that you and I have seen leads some different directions. Certainly Watergate was a great example of that,” McCain, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview on PBS’s “Charlie Rose” Monday night.
McCain added that while “there’s been attempts to” discredit the House committee, he will continue to withhold judging it until it finalizes its conclusions surrounding the Benghazi attack.
He was however quick to defend the chairman of the committee, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.
“I know Trey Gowdy. I know that he is an honest man and a man of integrity. So before I make a decision, and I think before anybody should, let’s see the result of [the investigation],” McCain said.
The committee, formed in May 2014 to investigate the 2012 Benghazi attack, has come under fire since Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suggested it was hurting Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid poll numbers. Those against the committee — including Clinton herself — argue that it has since changed its tune from the Benghazi attacks to only focus on the former secretary of state’s private email server.
“The conclusions that they reach, whether the American people believe they’re legitimate or not, will be the ultimate test,” McCain said of the committee’s work.
Most importantly, several questions need to be answered about the Benghazi attack, McCain said, including what Clinton knew and when.
“The famous Watergate [investigation] about Nixon, I guess, what did he know and when did he know it is — applies here,” he concluded.
