Hillary Clinton’s claim that the House Select Committee on Benghazi is the “longest-running congressional investigation ever” was debunked Friday by fact-checkers who dug up four examples of specially-convened committees that had lasted longer.
Republican press aides on the select committee drew attention to a pair of stories that “debunk a false claim by Democrats” and asked that reporters who had parroted the accusation against the committee issue corrections.
Politifact highlighted three congressional investigations that had run at least twice as long as the Benghazi committee’s probe, and one that had lasted a full year longer.
The examples included the Senate Select Committee on Improper Activities in Labor-Management Relations, a special committee formed to look into labor racketeering that continued for 38 months.
Another committee, the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program, existed for 90 months in order to investigate defense contracts issued during World War II.
Created in May 2014, the Benghazi committee has existed for roughly 17 months.
Clinton and her supporters have repeatedly attacked the Benghazi committee’s probe as a politically-motivated effort to damage the Democratic candidate’s image.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is presently vying to become Speaker of the House, gave weight to Democrats’ concerns when he linked the select committee’s investigation to Clinton’s falling poll numbers Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News.
