After a Democratic member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi called for his own panel to be disbanded, Republicans pointed out that he had attended just one witness interview in the past year.
Rep. Adam Schiff’s op-ed in the New York Times Friday touched off a squabble between majority and minority staff members that highlighted tensions between the parties over the scope and purpose of the Benghazi panel.
Democrats, including Schiff, have lambasted Chairman Trey Gowdy for what they perceive as an unnecessary and politically-motivated focus on Hillary Clinton. Republicans have noted the committee was the first investigative body to uncover Clinton’s use of a personal email server, among other findings that have changed the landscape of the Benghazi probe.
“Since its formation, the Select Committee on Benghazi has been aimless and slow moving, not knowing what it was looking for or where,” Schiff wrote in his Times piece.
The California Democrat said the panel has devolved into a search for anything that could embarrass Clinton. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the panel’s ranking minority member, has echoed that sentiment.
But Jamal Ware, spokesman for committee Republicans, highlighted Schiff’s uneven participation in the investigation to date, noting the Democratic member had attended just one of more than 45 different witness interviews since the committee was formed in May of last year.
“Perhaps Mr. Schiff could shed some light on the testimony offered yesterday by [former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl] Mills — the Democrats seemed to have a lot to selectively leak about that session despite the fact that Chairman Gowdy and Ranking Member Cummings agreed to treat the session as classified,” Ware said. ” But that would have required Mr. Schiff to actually show up, something he has not done during the pendency of the Benghazi Investigation.”
Ware pointed out the cordial relations between Mills and Gowdy after the former Clinton staffer was interviewed by committee members Thursday, when Mills thanked Gowdy for his “professionalism and respect.”
The Republican spokesman also criticized the Times for printing Schiff’s op-ed.
“Perhaps the New York Times public editor can expound on why the paper chose to run an op-ed by someone who actually has no clue as to what facts have been discussed or uncovered by a committee he sits on but has failed to actually show up and participate,” Ware said.
Cummings called Ware’s statement “bizarre, highly defensive and erratic.”
The Maryland Democrat questioned whether Gowdy had seen Ware’s note before it was sent to reporters Friday.
“I do not know if Chairman Gowdy approved his press staffer’s statement, but it attacked members of Congress in a direct and offensive manner that I have never seen before,” Cummings said. “If the Chairman did not approve it, he may want to consider whether this individual is the appropriate person to represent the Benghazi Committee to the press and the American people.”
Cummings then called on Gowdy to “consider making those claims himself rather than allowing his press staffer to engage in activities that are not befitting the House of Representatives” in the event the chairman did sign off on the statement.
Patrick Boland, Schiff’s spokesman, dismissed the statement on Schiff’s attendance record as a distraction.
Boland said the panel’s Republicans were “attempting to distract from the fact that after representing a schedule earlier this year that would have already seen 10 public hearings, they have managed to hold precisely one — eight months ago.”
The committee majority has completed dozens of closed-door, “fact-finding” interviews with witnesses, many of whom were never questioned by the other committees that have investigated Benghazi.
However, the panel has deviated from a tentative schedule of public hearings put forward at the end of last year.
“Unlike other select committee members, the fact is that Congressman Schiff participated in a professional, bipartisan investigation by the House Intelligence Committee which debunked the myths and conspiracy theories that the Majority on the Select Committee are attempting to resuscitate,” Boland told the Washington Examiner. “It’s apparent that the metric for success of the Benghazi Committee is the political damage done to Secretary Clinton, not the search for the truth.”
Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which previously probed the circumstances surrounding the 2012 Benghazi attack.
The Benghazi panel interviewed Mills and Jake Sullivan, another top Clinton aide, Thursday and Friday in attempt to learn more about State Department leadership’s response to the raid. Both interviews were conducted behind closed doors, and Gowdy said he wanted to treat the testimony as classified information.
