Democrats failed on Wednesday to secure the votes necessary to disband the Benghazi committee that has been investigating how four Americans – including a U.S. ambassador – were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in eastern Libya in 2012.
One of the Democrats on the committee who voted to disband was Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who is running for Senate and who received an endorsement from Hillary Clinton in early September. Clinton is one of the main subjects of the Benghazi investigation, as she was secretary of state when the attack occurred.
In April, when Duckworth announced her bid for the senate against incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., she was asked a question about Clinton’s emails. In response, Duckworth talked about transparency, and added that “I’m on Benghazi committee, I’m on Armed Services, I think transparency is better and she needs to come before the Benghazi committee and testify as well.”
But after Clinton endorsed Duckworth, the congresswoman changed her tune.
Duckworth said in a press release that the Benghazi committee should “wrap up … as soon as possible” and accused Republicans of trying “to score political points” against Clinton. The press release was prompted by comments from Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who said a couple weeks ago that the Benghazi investigation was part of the reason Clinton’s poll numbers are falling in her bid for the presidency.
“Everybody though Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy said. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened, had we not fought.”
While those remarks were inappropriate, Duckworth had been sitting on the Benghazi committee for more than a year, long enough to have been able to determine within that time whether it was truly politically motivated. Yet she waited until comments were made after her endorsement from Clinton to raise an objection. Either the committee was always politically motivated and Duckworth went along with it, or McCarthy made a stupid comment that has allowed Duckworth an exit strategy from a committee investigating one of her major supporters.
Regardless, since the committee has not been disbanded, Clinton will testify on Oct. 22.
