Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus hopes that keeping Hillary’s role in the Sept. 11. 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya damages her 2016 presidential hopes. Establishing the House Select Committee on Benghazi May 5, 2014, Priebus hoped to hammer away at Hillary’s credibility before the Nov. 4, 2016 presidential election. Headed by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), the committee’s alleged role is to assign blame in the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack that killed 52-year-old Amb. Chris Steven and three other Americans. When the dust settled, the White House instructed former U.N. Amb. Susan Rice to go to Sunday Morning Talk shows Sept. 15, 2012 to blame the incident on “spontaneous rioting. Once Rice committed her gaffe, the GOP concluded there was a cover-up to protect President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election bid.
Keeping Gowdy’s Permanent Select Committee in the headlines has become a thorn in Hillary’s side, generating more bad publicity during the 2016 presidential race. Gowdy’s committee wants to establish that Hillary violated State Department email rules, requiring her to send emails only through secure government accounts. One Nov. 18, 2012 email sent to Clinton’s private email account by her deputy chief of staff Jake Sullivan relates to possible suspects in the Benghanz terror attack. While acknowledging that fact today, Clinton said “but that doesn’t change the fact all the information in the emails was handled appropriately,” disputing Gowdy’s claim that Clinton violated State Department’s email policy. Considered unclassified at the time, the FBI upgraded the content to classified or “secret,” on at least 23 words in the email, now redacted from public exposure.
Gowdy’s team at the Select Committee complained about the 23-word or one-and-half lines of redacted email, complaining that the email should have gone to a secure government email account. Saying the email “strains credulity,” Gowdy wants to create as much doubt as possible over Hillary’s handling of classified information. “To assume a self-selected public record is complete, when no one with a duty or responsibility to the public had the ability to take part in the selection, requires a leap of long no impartial reviewer should be required to make,” said Gowdy. Gowdy believes that the redacted information exposes Clinton’s culpability in failing to provide adequate security to the U.S. Benghazi mission to prevent a terrorist attack. RNC officials think keeping the Benghazi inquiry going keeps a dark cloud over Hillary’s presidential campaign, something yet to be seen.
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jan. 23, 2013 after leaving office as Secretary of State, Hillary got hot under the collar answering questions by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). “With all due respect, the fact is we have four dead Americans. Whether it was because of a protest or because guys outside for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans. What difference at this point does it make,” Hillary answered forcefully to Johnson. Investigating Benghazi was always about giving the White House a fat black eye before the 2012 election. Today’s continuation by Gowdy’s Permanent Select Committee has the same intent to damage Hillary’s credibility before the 2016 election. Johnson and other Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee couldn’t explain why the White House instructed Rice to sanitize what happened.
Gowdy admitted that Hillary’s emails were only one aspect of the investigation, ultimately designed to find her negligent in not beefing up security at the U.S. Benghazi mission. “The committee is working to collect and evaluate all of the relevant and material information necessary to evaluate the full rang of issues in context. We will not reach any investigative conclusions until our work is complete . . “ said Gowdy, promising to drag it on as long as possible. Hoping to drag on investigation, Gowdy hopes more bad publicity comes from incriminating emails. RNC officials hope to keep Clinton on the defense between now and the 2016 election. “But these emails continue to reinforce the fact that unresolved questions and issues remain as it relates to Benghazi,” insisted Gowdy, walking a tight rope on just how far and how long to keep asking the same old questions.
When Hillary testified Jan. 23, 2013 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, she took responsibility for the Benghazi mess. While the RNC wants to discredit Hillary at all costs, the strategy could backfire with voters, who can’t see fit to blame Hillary for a terrorist attack against a remote U.S. facility in a terrorist-infested North Africa after the fall of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. “Stop wasting taxpayer money dragging out this political charade to harm Secretary Clinton’s bid for president,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), countering the RNC strategy. Rather than complain about he Select Committee’s work, Cummings and other Democrats should let the RNC’s extreme partisanship implode with voters. Voters have already shown they don’t blame Hillary for security lapses halfway around the globs. Whatever sells soap on Fox News, doesn’t necessarily work for mainstream voters.
