The mother of one of the four Americans killed during the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi slammed Hillary Clinton Tuesday for refusing to speak with the victim’s family.
Patricia Smith, mother of information management officer Sean Smith, praised the work of the House Select Committee on Benghazi and questioned why Clinton has attempted to dismiss its investigation as purely political.
“She promised me, when the caskets came in to Washington D.C., she promised me to my face that she would call and tell me what happened, because I don’t know exactly what happened,” Smith said on Fox’s “America’s Newsroom. “She has never called. Her office not only has not called, but they gave out information that I was not to know anything because I am not a member of the immediate family.”
A visibly emotional Smith demanded an answer from Clinton, noting she had not received an update on the cause of the attack since she was told the violence was sparked by a YouTube video.
“Yes, it’s only been three years,” Smith said. “How long is it going to take before I find out something? Somebody in the government should let me know something.”
Clinton has said she would not have authorized the creation of the Benghazi committee because it “exploits” the deaths of four Americans.
But Smith expressed her support for the committee’s efforts and said she had been promised an explanation by Chairman Trey Gowdy himself.
“I think he’s doing a good job,” she said of the chairman. “I think he’s trying to find answers.”
The select committee’s investigation has come under fire in recent weeks thanks to comments from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that suggested the panel played an active role in lowering Clinton’s poll numbers.
Allegations from a former committee staffer late last week renewed concerns that the probe had become political in nature.
Bradley Podliska, an Air Force Reserve officer and terminated committee staffer, publicly claimed he was removed from his position after refusing to target Clinton.
Gowdy has denied the allegations, arguing instead that Podliska pushed the story to the media after he was unable to obtain money from the committee through mediation.
“He left in June of this year, so he doesn’t have any idea what our committee has done since June, but I’m going to be happy to tell him,” Gowdy said of Podliska during an appearance on Fox’s “On the Record” Monday evening.
Gowdy noted the Benghazi committee has conducted 50 witness interviews since March, when news of Clinton’s private email use first broke.
“Precisely one of them has been exclusively related to her email,” he added.
Democrats have tried to use speculation over the motives of Benghazi investigators to shut down the probe.
