The panel investigating the terrorist attacks on Benghazi has yet to receive emails and records from the State Department six months after requesting them, and won’t schedule a hearing with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton until they get them.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., who chairs the Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry expressing frustration that “not a single document,” has been produced by the department despite a request by the Benghazi committee in November and a subpoena issued by the panel in March.
The committee is investigating the State Department’s role before, during and after the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Gowdy is seeking the information from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination. He also wants ‘documents and communications,” related to Benghazi from 10 former senior State Department officials.
Gowdy said the committee needs the information before it can question Clinton at a pubic hearing about her role.
Gowdy said he will schedule the hearing for Clinton only “after receiving a record sufficient to constructively ask questions.”
Democrats accuse Gowdy and Republican leaders of a politically motivated investigation aimed at harming Clinton’s chances of winning the White House.
The top Democrat on the Benghazi panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the panel has received emails from Clinton.
“Republicans are on a fishing expedition for anything they can use against Secretary Clinton in her presidential campaign, and every time they come back empty-handed, they extend their trip at taxpayer expense,” Cummings said. “The committee has had Secretary Clinton’s emails for months. This new claim that the department has not produced a single responsive document is completely baseless and appears to be yet another excuse to drag out Secretary Clinton’s testimony until closer to the election.”
